Official: StarLadder to host next Major in Berlin

StarLadder has confirmed that it will host the second Major of 2019 in the German city of Berlin.

The 15th Major in CS:GO history will be held in its entirety in Berlin and will culminate with the playoff stages held at the iconic Mercedes-Benz Arena, home of the grand final of the 2015 League of Legends World Championship and of last year's PUBG Global Invitational.

The Minors will be held during the second half of July, while the Major itself will begin on August 20, right after the player break. Schedule-wise, this is a significant change from the FACEIT Major, which began only on September 5 and was the second post-break Big Event, after DreamHack Masters Stockholm.

The news marks the return of a CS:GO Major to Germany, where three events of this stature were held on a yearly basis between 2014 and 2016, all of which in Cologne. More significant, though, is the fact that this is the first time that StarLadder has won the right to host a Major, making it one of the most ambitious projects in the history of the Kiev-based company, which has been heavily involved in the Counter-Strike scene since 2012.

"Our company was founded out of an immense passion for Counter-Strike," said Alexander Chegrinez, Head of Business Development at StarLadder.

"Our very first tournaments many years ago started with CS. This game was and remains as a critical part of who we are, we grew up with it, and couldn’t be more excited.

"It is a great honor for us to host the 15th anniversary Major in such a stunning venue, and for such an incredible community! We will do our best to impress the fans and deliver a truly memorable Major!"

StarLadder has not yet announced where the offline stages preceding the Champions Stage will be held, but it is likely that at least some of them will be played at the Berlin studio that the company is about to open for the PUBG Europe League (PEL).

Below you can find the schedule for the different offline stages of the StarLadder Major:

July 17-21 – Europe & Americas Minors
July 24-28 – CIS & Asia Minors
July 29 – Minor Play-in
August 20-25 – Challengers Stage
August 27-September 1 – Legends Stage
September 5-8 – Champions Stage

Details regarding the qualifying process for the Major will be announced at a later stage, while tickets will go on sale in April, StarLadder has announced.