Australia's award-winning esports event, Intel Extreme Masters Sydney, returns for third consecutive year in 2019
The best CS:GO teams in the world will be heading to Qudos Bank Arena for the third consecutive year of the award-winning Australian esports event, Intel Extreme Masters Sydney. From 3 - 5 May 2019, teams will be competing to win the prize pool of $250,000 USD.
The event will see sixteen of the world's best Counter-Strike: Global Offensive (CS:GO) teams play live at the Qudos Bank Arena.
If you missed the event that passed this year, you can check out the offical recap below.
The Intel Extreme Masters (IEM) Sydney will be just one of a dozen major arena pro gaming competitions planned globally by the esports league in 2019. It will also be the second CS:GO Intel Grand Slam event planned for 2019.
The winners of the IEM Sydney will be another step closer towards competing in the Intel Grand Slam. The Intel Grand Slam, which has a massive prize of a million dollars USD for the first team to win four of the previous ESL and DreamHack IGS-level events.
IEM Sydney title holders FaZe Clan currently hold two eligible championships, with last year’s runners up Astralis holding three after their win at IEM Chicago 2018.
Michal Blicharz, VP of Pro Gaming as ESL spoke on the event.
“What we have managed to build in just two years with ESL Australia and the ANZ gaming community is absolutely incredible,” he said. “IEM Sydney is quickly becoming a staple esports event not just in Australia but globally and it’s something we’re incredibly proud of.”
“For us to be able to announce our third consecutive stadium-scale esports event in Australia with IEM Sydney 2019 is something we never dreamt of happening 10 years ago” said Nick Vanzetti, Senior Vice President of ESL Asia-Pacific Japan. “It’s a true testament to the strength of esports in our country, and we’ll be working hard to ensure it’s another unforgettable experience for every person who attends.”
At the 2018 IEM event in Sydney, over 7,500 esports fans were in attendance each day. This was coupled with 13.5 million unique viewers online. This made for the highest ever viewership for an esports competition held in Australia. Next year’s event will mark the 75th stop since the inception of Intel Extreme Masters since the start of the series in 2006.
There will also be much more at this event than just the live matches. Those in attendance will have the chance to meet their esports idols face-to-face at signing sessions and participate in some amazing giveaways.
In addition to this must-see showcase at all IEM events is the Intel Experience Area featuring the latest 9th Gen Intel® Core™ i7 and Intel® Core™ i9 processors. The immersive gaming and esports experience features the latest PC and VR games, all powered by Intel’s leading gaming technology.
Tickets for the event will go on Friday, November 16, 2018 at 2pm AEDT via www.ticketek.com.au.
The general public will have the opportunity to choose between Day (starting at $39 AUD), Weekend ($139 AUD), Weekend Premium ($239 AUD) and Global Elite tickets ($1,199 AUD). In addition, all ticket types will offer an Early Entrance option which will allow fans to enter the venue one hour prior to the official doors open time.
For more information, follow IEM on Twitter and Facebook and visit the official IEM Sydney website at iem.gg/sydney2019. You can also check out the announcement trailer for the event below:
