The ESL Arena returns to gamescom’s Hall 9, bringing the largest esports production the world’s biggest gaming convention has ever seen. With more than 5.000 m² of exhibition space, ESL Arena will offer the best of esports to over 350,000 fans that are expected to attend this year’s event. Two Esports Stages fully packed with live competitions, and an Esports Zone for live demos, giveaways, meet and greets and signing sessions with pro players and teams will be open to all from August 23 through August 26. Featured games include both classics from ESL’s competitions, as well as new titles: PLAYERUNKNOWN’S BATTLEGROUNDS, Blade & Soul, Counter-Strike: Global Offensive, CROSSFIRE, FIFA 17, League of Legends®, Project CARS and Rainbow Six: Siege.
Next to watching professional competitions across all games, fans can look forward to a lot more esports action at the ESL Playground powered by Red Bull. The ESL Playground will feature daily community tournaments for games like FIFA 17, Rocket League or Clash Royale – but also Oculus VR title, The Unspoken, a hit title in the VR Challenger League. Meet & Greets with ESL personalities, raffles, community meetings or workshops will take place daily from August 23 through August 26.
Twitch will have a prominent stage show featuring content from notable publishers from Tuesday to Thursday, Twitch partner led content on Friday and Saturday, and a special creative stage throughout the entire gamescom. In addition, the Twitch Area will feature H1Z1 kiosks, the Intel streamer zone, a meet and greet zone for top creators, and for the first time at gamescom, will be offering Twitch merchandise with limited edition items.
The ESL Shop will be available in hall 5, offering a wide range of merchandise from esports teams across multiple games, as well as general gaming apparel and merchandise.
- ESL Meisterschaft Finals in League of Legends, Counter-Strike: Global Offensive and FIFA 17 – (Saturday, August 26th)
After an exciting season featuring the new league format, the top teams and players can prove themselves worthy by winning the most prestigious national title, in front of a live audience at the ESL Arena Alternate Stage on Saturday, August 26th. The ESL Summer Meisterschaft will welcome Germany’s best League of Legends and Counter-Strike: Global Offensive teams, and best FIFA 17 players, to battle for the highest combined prize pool in the competition’s history. €60,000 is up for grabs and will be split between the champions of each respective competition.
- Tom Clancy’s Rainbow Six: Siege Pro League Season 2 Finals – (Friday, August 25 and Saturday, August 26)
Tom Clancy’s Rainbow Six: Siege Pro League Season 2 Finals are coming to ESL Arena’s Main Stage. Best eight best teams from Latin America, North America and Europe will battle it out for glory and lion’s share of an US$237,500 total prize pool. The playoffs will kick off at the Main Stage on Friday, August 25, and culminate with the Grand Finals on Saturday, August 26.
- paysafecard Beat the Legends Vol. III – (Friday, August 25)
Top sixteen Counter-Strike: Global Offensive amateur teams will have the chance to prove themselves next to two world class professional players, bodyy and apEX from G2 Esports, the current Pro League CS:GO Season 5 champions. The registrations for the big showdown starts at the beginning of this month, whereas the show matches will be held at the Alternate Stage on Friday, August 25.
- Project CARS World Final – (Wednesday, August 23)
Top five teams from the SMS-R Championship Series will be guaranteed a place at the World Final, which will be played out at the Main Stage in the ESL Arena. €5,000 prize pool is up for grabs and will be added to already secured €15,000 that the teams have won over the course of the season.
- Crossfire Stars European Finals – (Thursday, August 24)
ESL and Smilegate Europe team up to bring the Crossfire Stars European Finals to the ESL Arena Alternate Stage on Thursday, August 24. Europe’s best four Crossfire teams will fight for the lion’s share of the US$20,800 prize pool and the precious slot at the Crossfire Grand Finals in Shanghai, China.
- Blade & Soul European Regional Championship – (Thursday, August 24)
The Blade & Soul European Regional Championship takes the Main Stage at the ESL Arena on Thursday, August 24. Eight of the best teams have earned their way to Regional Championship, and will be competing for the title of EU Champion and the prestige of representing their region at the Blade & Soul World Championship 2017 September in South Korea.
Lenovo, MEDION, NCSOFT, NEXON, Bluehole, Robert Space Industries, Square Enix and Wüstenrot will feature exclusive activities at their gaming booths in the ESL Arena including signing sessions, meet and greets, show matches, gaming competitions and many more.
Our official ESL Arena partners include: Acer, AVM, Intel, paysafecard, HyperX, Gerolsteiner and Wüstenrot. For an overview of all ESL-related gamescom 2017 activities, please follow our official channels on twitter and facebook.
Tune in to watch all ESL Arena at gamescom 2017 action via twitch.