【】

DreamHack has announced that it will host two $250,000 CS:GO events this year, called DreamHack Masters, the first of which in Malmö in just three months.

DreamHack Masters is a new championship series that will be bringing esports tournaments to stadiums and large arenas located in different cities.

This year, DreamHack will be hosting two Masters events, both featuring CS:GO, with the Swedish company vowing to expand to other games, "depending on market and timing", in the future.

 Malmö Arena to host the playoffs of the first DreamHack Masters event

DreamHack Masters Malmö will feature 16 of the world's finest teams, who will be competing from April 12-17 for the lion's share of a $250,000 prize pool. The group stage will take place from April 12-14 and will be covered from DreamHack's studio in Stockholm, with the playoffs featuring a live event component at Malmö Arena, the second-largest indoor arena in Sweden and home of the ice hockey club Malmö Redhawks, on April 16-17.

"We are extremely proud to introduce DreamHack Masters in Malmö, to offer both Swedish and Danish fans the first dedicated stadium experience for CS:GO," said DreamHack Business Development Director Tomas Lyckedal.

"We’re looking to beat the production quality of DreamHack Open Cluj­-Napoca, which was our most successful CS:GO event ever.

"The visitor experience will be spectacular and we expect millions of fans to tune in online."

Eight teams will receive invitations for DreamHack Masters Malmö, while the remaining eight sides will be determined by online qualifiers, which will be announced shortly.

Tickets for the event will go on sale on January 14 at Ticketmaster and Ticnet. An event pass, covering both days, costs 340 SEK ($39.79), or 255 SEK ($29.84) in the early bird offer. A premium pass will be priced at 1395 SEK ($163.25) and 1495 SEK ($174.92) after the early-bird window is closed. A SkyBox pass, for up to eight people, will cost 15,000 SEK ($1,755). Full details about each ticket category can be found on the official DreamHack Masters website.

In 2016, DreamHack will give away a whopping $1 million in CS:GO tournaments alone. With half of that figure being earmarked for the DreamHack Masters events, the remaining $500,000 will be distributed between the five CS:GO tournaments that will be held as part of DreamHack Open, starting with the Leipzig stop, from January 22-24.