Skyesports, one of India’s premier esports organizers, has announced an exciting development for the Indian esports scene. The Skyesports Masters 2024, a seven-day LAN tournament, will feature four top international Counter-Strike 2 (CS2) teams: Ninjas in Pyjamas (NIP), Team Liquid, ENCE, and BIG. These teams will be competing for a total prize pool of $350,000 USD (INR 2,90,02,785).

The event is scheduled to take place from 8th to 14th April, with the location yet to be announced. In addition to the four overseas invites, four more teams are yet to be decided for the team list.

Skyesports Masters was established last year with teams from India only. Gods Reign emerged as the champion in the previous edition, and the team will aim to qualify for the main event this time as well to defend its crown.

Team Liquid, a popular esports team, has performed well in 2024, qualifying for multiple international tournaments. NIP, on the other hand, has had a challenging start to the year, with only two active players in its lineup. BIG, an esports organization from Germany, has been competing in Counter-Strike for eight years and is looking to turn its fortunes around in this tournament. ENCE, having qualified for PGL Major Copenhagen 2024, is also in high spirits.

The tournament will run from 8th to 14th April, coinciding with IEM Chengdu 2024. However, this scheduling has allowed Skyesports to invite international teams that missed out on the Chinese tournament.

In addition to the four invited teams, four more teams will join, including two direct invites and one team each from European and Indian qualifiers.

The response from the invited teams has been positive, and the South Asian community is excited to witness top esports organizations compete in India. It will be interesting to see how this tournament unfolds and which Indian teams get the opportunity to compete against these international giants.