Flashpoint Returns in Season 2 with $1 Million Prize Pool

The second season of a team-owned CS:GO league Flashpoint will return next month in an online series titled Flashpoint 2.

Tournament organizer B Site Inc. recently announced first details of competition, which will feature 12 teams fighting for their share of an enormous $1 million prize pool. Flashpoint 2 will kick off on November 9th and will conclude in Grand Final scheduled on December 6th. Champions of the torunament will take half of the prize money.

Even though the tournament will be run completely online, the attendance of teams is limited to those who can quarantine in Europe. This should provide better network conditions and arguably fairer play. Flashpoint 2 will see seven of the eight founding members: Cloud9, MIBR, Dignitas, Gen.G, MAD Lions, Envy, and c0ntact Gaming. The eighth founding member, FunPlus Phoenix, will not participate this season. The organisation is at the moment focused on building a “promising, long-lasting roster”, according to FPX’s brand new general manager Petar “⁠peca⁠” Marković.

There are five open slots to be filled in. Three will be by invitation, while only squads that are within the world’s top 20 are eligible to receive an invite. The remaining two teams will have to fight their way in through open qualifiers, followed by closed qualifiers.

The format for the series has not been revealed yet, although it will likely remain the same as in the inaugural season. Three groups of four battling in two phases of double-elimination group stages, with top eight teams advancing to double-elimination playoffs. All games were best-of-three.

Flashpoint places a fair share of emphasis on commentary and on-camera content. The event will be hosted by some of the best CS:GO talents, such as creative director of Flashpoint, Duncan “Thorin” Shields and Christopher “MonteCristo” Mykles. The on-air team will broadcast the event from B site’s studio in London. In addition, Flashpoint’s original analysis show “The Blind Spot” will return to discuss previous matches in a more casual environment.

Christopher “MonteCristo” Mykles, commissioner of Flashpoint and vice president of the brand, commented:

We’re dramatically improving the levels of both the competition and broadcast production for Flashpoint 2. We’re eager to give our fans a raw and unfiltered CS:GO tournament series while still taking necessary precautions to keep players safe.

About Flashpoint

Flashpoint is a new, team-owned professional league in CS:GO circuit operated by FACEIT. It’s supposed to be a competition for ESL Pro League, with the vision of a more team and player oriented approach. The league launched with a bit of controversy and the innaugural season had various issues, like visa and travel restrictions or clashing dates with ESL. Despite all the troubles, the new league has seen a sucess. Flashpoint 1 was during its duration consistently ranked within 20 streams on Twitch, recorded over 8 million hours of watch time and captured peak viewership of 282,000 concurrent viewers. Just as the upcoming season, Flashpoint 1 was also held online due to the global pandemic. Spanish team MAD Lions was the first team to lift the Flashpoint trophy.