BLAST announce 2023 calendar

The Danish tournament organizer has revealed their full schedule as well as their qualifiers and prize pools.

BLAST has announced the dates and prize pools for their 2023 circuit, which will start with Spring Groups in mid-January and end with the World Final in December. Details regarding the Showdown qualifiers have also been revealed.

The calendar will include three large arena events as well as two LAN group stages and the two Showdowns with their respective regional qualifiers. The total prize pool for the entire circuit will be $2,475,000 spread out across the seven tournaments, with the World Final's $1,000,000 acting as the crown jewel for the Danish organizer.

The 2023 BLAST circuit will be divided into Spring and Fall seasons, each comprised of a LAN Group Stage, online Showdown, and arena Finals. The first stage will be comprised of all 12 partner teams and will grant direct qualification to the best performers, while the rest will be sent to the famously unforgiving Showdown alongside invited and qualified non-partner teams.

BLAST previously changed their seasonal group format ahead of the Spring season and moved to a system entirely based on best-of-three matches in which the three group winners will directly qualify for the Finals. The remaining teams will then fight in the gauntlet stage from which three will advance to the next stage, while the remaining six will fall into the Showdown.

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Groups set for BLAST Premier Spring

Winners of the seasonal Finals will qualify for the World Finals in December, competing for the largest prize pool of the BLAST calendar alongside the champions of the two 2023 Majors and both ESL Pro League seasons. Finally, the last two spots will be filled by the top-placed squads in the “Race to the World Final Leaderboard."

The BLAST schedule for 2023 looks as follows:

Spring Groups: January 19-January 29 (Studio)
Spring Showdown: April 12-16 (Online)
Spring Final: June 7-11 (Arena)
Fall Groups: July 13-23 (Studio)
Fall Showdown: October 4-8 (Online)
Fall Final: November 22-26 (Arena)
World Final: December 13-17 (Arena)

"2023 will be the second year running where we have all of our finals in packed-out arenas in leading locations around the world. We’re excited to deliver another 12 months of next-level entertainment and follow up on the success of last year’s arena events in Lisbon, Copenhagen and Abu Dhabi," read Charlotte Kenny's statement, Managing Director of BLAST Premier.

BLAST's announcement also included details on the qualifiers that will allow non-partner teams to compete in the two Showdowns and earn a chance to reach the seasonal Finals.

The qualifying regions for the two seasons will look as follows:

"This year, the BLAST Premier Qualifiers return, giving grassroots teams the chance to play at the highest level against the world’s best - with 14 regional qualifiers set to take place across the year"

The 2023 BLAST Premier circuit will begin on January 19 as Spring Groups gets underway, kickstarting the action after the end of the winter tournament break.