The E-Sports Entertainment Association League (ESEA) is a fairly well-known tournament platform, the equivalent of which is FACEIT. Offering its own anti-cheat system, the platform is the venue for many open qualifiers and tournaments held within the competitive scene.

However, ESEA can stand out not only for its competition scene, but also for its own CS:GO tournament series. In recent years, the platform has become a leading organiser of eSports events, offering championships at various levels, from amateurs to professionals.

History of ESEA tournaments

The ESEA started to organise tournaments in the late 1990s, back in the days of Counter-Strike 1.6. The format of the championships initially focused on Europe and North America, where the most popular teams of the time were concentrated.

For instance, already in the early tournament seasons, ESEA attracted major and well-known clubs such as Virtus.pro, Ninjas in Pyjamas, Evil Geniuses, Complexity, fnatic, mousesports, ENCE and VeryGames.

The first professional tournament series was called the ESEA Invite and offered a primary division into two regions. At the end of each season the organizers held LAN Finals to bring together the best competitors from Europe and North America.

This format of the tournament series existed for several years, along the way trying to split the championships into divisions: Counter-Strike 1.6 and Counter-Strike Source. However, ESEA Invite series survived until 2015, although it lost its popularity after CS:GO was released.

New round in the development of ESEA tournaments

With the release of CS:GO, the tournament platform had to invent a new format and increase the number of tournaments. As a response to the rapid growth of the franchise, the ESEA Season series was launched.

The renewed structure, from the very beginning, offered not only a regional division but also separate divisions according to the level of the invited teams.

The new series tournaments were also played in Europe and North America, inviting some famous names from the scene: Luminosity Gaming, 3DMAX, LDLC, etc.

For several years the organizers tried to build a unified structure for their tournament series, which took on a final meaning in the mid-twenties:

• Main Division - an initial league for smaller teams.
• Advanced Division - a transitional league for top teams from the first division and representatives of the TIER-3 scene.
• Premier Division - top league for the strongest representatives of the competitive scene.

At the same time the ESEA added the Australian competition to its structure, thus significantly increasing the chances of small teams to make it to the pro-level.

Global Challenge tournaments

In 2016 ESEA also launched the Global Challenge LAN tournaments. The segregated format was a response to the increase in the number of tournaments held within the scene.

The format of the series meant that the best teams from the regions would compete in one place for a prize pool of $50,000. The Global Challenge ran for almost four years but was forgotten for good in 2020 due to the coronavirus pandemic.

Cash Cups Tournaments

In response to the health situation, a new series of online tournaments called Cash Cups appeared. A separate structure was created in 2020 offering small weekly events for teams from all regions.

Despite the small prize pool, the Cash Cups series attracts both amateur and professional teams. The short-term format of the tournaments offers great opportunities for participants without requiring them to make major changes to their calendars.

Collaboration with ESL and further changes to the structure of the tournament series

As the series progressed, ESEA was able to secure the support of ESL, the renowned tournament operator. This gave top division winners the opportunity to play in the ESL Pro League.

This would add to the popularity of the series, as more teams from Europe and North America began to make their way through the system.

Within six years, the organisers managed to run 20 seasons. In particular, such famous clubs as FORZE, BIG, Vitality, FlipSid3 Tactics and FURIA passed through the Premier Division structure.

However, at the beginning of 2022, the organizers took a further step towards merging with ESL to form a new competitive series - ESL Challenger League.

The present of ESEA Challenger League tournaments

Today, the ESL Challenger League series is the equivalent of the popular Premier Division. Despite this, ESEA has managed to maintain the structure and promotion of the lower divisions, offering an open format to all competitors.

The transformation into the ESL Challenger League allowed the organisers to significantly reduce the difference in perception of the series, leaving the top prize, a trip to the ESL Pro League.

The tournament series from ESEA is now one of the ways to break through to the top. Thousands of small teams battle it out in three divisions each season, advancing for the right to gain notoriety. Thanks to this, the competitions grab the attention of spectators and offer the chance to meet future champions.