ESL have announced that the second Installment of Intel Extreme Masters will kick off from 4th May – 6th May 2018 in Qudos Bank Arena, Sydney.
Commencing their first installment from Sydney in May 2017 by giving an action-packed event. The organizers have announced the second season of IEM Sydney 2018.
In the 2017 season, SK Gaming defeated FaZe Clan with the scoreline of 3-1 in the Grand Finals in a competition worthy of the Australian crowd’s excitement.
IEM Sydney 2018
However, it’s confirmed that IEM Sydney will be bigger and better with a prize pool of $250,000. The $250,000 prize pool marks a $50,000 increase on the 2017 edition and the playoff stages (May 4th – 6th) will take place in the Qudos Bank Arena in front of a live crowd.
In the press release, three members of the ESL Australia staff sang the praises of Australian CS:GO fans. Michal Blicharz, Vice President of Pro Gaming at ESL, claimed the fans became “part of the show. That type of atmosphere is very rare. They left us no choice but to come back and do it again.”
WE'RE COMING BACK TO AUSTRALIA!
Announcing #IEM Sydney 2018 🇦🇺
➡️https://t.co/KrD8frsOwm pic.twitter.com/sJUCa8CKft— Intel® Extreme Masters (@IEM) January 30, 2018
The teaser trailer accompanying the announcement includes several highlights from last year’s IEM Sydney, many of which star the extremely lively crowd at the Qudos Bank Arena. Yes, that includes the shoeys.
Shoeys for everyone!!!
— Avarice (@Avarice_AU) January 30, 2018
IEM Sydney 2018 will also be a part of the Intel Grand Slam – a competition that offers a $1 million bonus to the first team that wins four out of the last ten major ESL or DreamHack Masters events.
Tickets for the event are due to go on sale on February 2nd and more information regarding teams and qualifiers is expected to follow shortly.
In an altogether alternate event, IEM Oakland, the prizes are even more exciting. Although there has been no news of IEM Oakland for the current year, ESL will most likely be releasing the same in near future.
