The next ESL One premier for Dota 2 has been announced. It will take place in Hamburg, Germany, on Oct. 28-29 at the Barclaycard Arena.
The event will feature cosplay competitions, pro player signings for fans and two days of competitive Dota 2 in the 16,000-seat capacity stadium.
Frequently playing home to matchups of some of the best teams in the game, the most recent ESL One in Genting Highlands, Malaysia, saw Digital Chaos emerge victorious over Newbee for the title and $125,000 in prize earnings.
ESL One Hamburg will take place after The International 7, placing it firmly into the 2017-2018 competitive season. Though invites can only be speculated right now, Hamburg's unique position in the Dota 2 competitive schedule may allow it to serve as a proving ground for the new rosters formed after the inevitable post-TI shuffle and also play a role in determining invites for the (as yet unannounced) 2017-2018 Valve Fall Major.
Though the format has not been officially announced, ESL One premiers have been using a recurring format since 2016's ESL One Manila, where four invited teams and four qualifier teams from the major Dota regions (Americas, Europe, China, Southeast Asia) are split into two groups. After running GSL-style group matches, the top two of each group are then seeded into a single-elimination bracket.
Prize pools for ESL One premiers have ranged anywhere from $140,000 to $314,000.
