ASUS ROG Invitational II CS:GO tournament kicks off this month

ASUS has announced that its ROG Invitational Counter-Strike: Global Offensive tournament will continue this year in partnership with Vodacom World and Intel.

The competition will see gamers compete for a share of the R150,000 prize pool in a “Soldiers of Fortune” format.

“The Soldiers of Fortune format follows a double-elimination structure that will be made up of two invited teams: the finalists from 2019, Goliath Gaming and Sinister 5,” ASUS said.

“The six remaining teams will be filled by way of an online qualifier.”

Each team entering the finals bracket enters with their starting share of the R150,000 prize pool, with the highest seeded teams receiving a larger share of the money.

From this point, each match contains a bounty where 40% of the losing team’s starting prize pool is on the line. This means the closer teams get to the final, the more they stand to win or lose.

Registrations for the ROG Invitational are open today through Mettlestate, with qualifiers running from 26 August until 9 September.

The finals will be broadcast live from the Vodacom World Esports Studios from 17-20 September.

Through its partnership with Vodacom World, the ASUS ROG Invitational II finals will feature a panel of experts and three full days of CS:GO matches with analysis and commentary.

ASUS ROG South Africa marketing manager Juan Mouton said that while COVID-19 has forced the tournament to be held online exclusively, it has also resulted in accelerated engagement with gaming.

“The global pandemic has forced us to take this tournament exclusively online, but unlike other sectors that have required creative restructuring to continue to grow, other than the gathering restrictions, we have simply seen an acceleration of existing, pre Covid-19 gaming trends within the sector,” Mouton said.

“The unique duel consumption models of gaming (linear and interactive) means an increase in both gaming engagement and gaming spectatorship.”