For three years, ESL One Frankfurt was the place to be for Europe’s Dota 2 fans. This year, ESL is moving further north. Hamburg’s Barclaycard-Arena is the new scene for “Europe’s biggest Dota 2 tournament,” the company announced today.
A prize pool of $250,000 will be at stake once again for the event. And just like in Frankfurt, ESL will frame its tournament with a festival that offers visitors a bunch of attractions.
“We are confident in our new venue,” Ulrich Schultze, VP of pro gaming at ESL, said in a press release. “ESL One Hamburg will, once more, figure prominently among the world’s best Dota 2 competitions.”
ESL’s Dota 2 tournaments are premier tournaments, in the game, offering outstanding prize pools and LAN play and featuring the best teams from around the world. They are held by established franchises and considered to be especially prestigious.
In January, ESL hosted its ESL One Genting tournament, which saw US-based Digital Chaos take the victory over the Chinese team Newbee. It was the biggest esports tournament in Malaysia to date and has been received fairly well by the community.
When it comes to ESL One in Germany, replacing Frankfurt’s Commerzbank-Arena with Hamburg’s Barclaycard-Arena is a downgrade. Though ESL never used the stadium in Frankfurt to its full extent of more than 50,000 seats, the smaller size of Barclaycard-Arena—with a capacity of only 16,000—will be visible.
That’s not saying much on its own, of course. Cologne’s Lanxess Arena is just shy of 20,000 seats and delivers a great atmosphere for ESL’s second German flagship, the ESL One Cologne CS:GO tournament.
