Teams gunning for $1m prize pool in Counter-Strike tournament in Singapore this October

This garden city is about to be transformed into headshot central come end-October - and some will even get to watch.

The world's top Counter-Strike teams and players will be coming to Singapore for the Blast Premier World Final 2024 taking place at Resorts World Convention Centre in Sentosa from Oct 30 till Nov 3, according to a press release on Monday (Sep 2).

Eight teams will be vying for the $1 million prize pool and the World Final trophy - these teams include the top-ranked Natus Vincere, Team Vitality, G2 Esports, Team Spirit and FaZe Clan, with the remaining three to be confirmed by the end of September.

At present, this likely means that Singapore will see Counter-Strike virtuosos Danil "donk" Kryshkovets from Russia, Justinas "jL" Lekavičius from Lithuania and Mathieu "ZywOo" Herbaut from France take the stage to battle it out for the top spot in the competition. 

"We're really excited to go to Singapore next month and play against the best Counter-Strike teams," Team Vitality's Mathieu said in the press release.

"It will be amazing to get on stage in front of so many fans at the Resorts World Convention Centre. It's going to be a lot of fun, and hopefully, we'll see some great CS!"

This event, supported by the Singapore Tourism Board, is the largest Counter-Strike event to date in Singapore.

Blast will also be hosting the Blast Dota Slam in 2025, which will be three years since a global-tier tournament - The International 2022 - was last held in Singapore for Dota 2 back in 2022.

Ong Ling Lee, executive director for Sports and Wellness with the Singapore Tourism Board, said: “We are excited to host the Blast Premier World Final and the Blast Dota Slam in Singapore. 

"The Counter-Strike event marks the first Blast-branded event in Southeast Asia and the inaugural Counter-Strike tournament series in the region, solidifying Singapore’s position as a world-class esports destination.

“We are confident that the international participants and their legions of fans will have a memorable experience in Singapore, immersing themselves in the diverse and dynamic offerings of our city.”

Tickets will be available on Ticketmaster.sg and will be priced from $38 for single-day general admission, and from $148 for three-day admission.

Pre-sale for fans who have registered with BLAST.tv began last Friday (Aug 30) and will conclude on Tuesday (Sep 3) at 9:59am.

General on-sale will begin from Tuesday (Sept 3), 10am onwards.

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khooyihang@asiaone.com