Dota 2 fans, mark your calendars, because ESL is continuing its drive to take ESL One beyond an esports tournament into a full-blown festival. From June 18-19, ESL One Frankfurt will be returning to the Commerzbank-Arena, with the organisers aiming to top this year's record of 30,000 visitors through an increased variety of side activities. I'm informed that 2015's event included archery and bull riding, which is quite the change of pace from watching virtual wizards blow each other up. If, however, you care nought for anything other than exploding wizards, ESL vice president of pro gaming Ulrich Schulze has reassuring words for you.
"This year we’re looking to make the event the biggest and best yet: on-site visitors will be able to watch the best in competitive Dota on the industry’s largest screen. Measuring in at over 500m2 and easily one of the top 50 largest video screens worldwide, the viewing experience will be on par with that of the Yankee Stadium."
Should you want to sear Dota 2 onto your retinas in memory of this special event, tickets will be on sale from December 17 from Ticketmaster. In keeping with ESL One Cologne, a €3,000 'Aegis Experience' is on offer, but tickets start from €29. If Frankfurt is a bit of trek, though, it seems likely that ESL will be paying special attention to its livestreams too—this year saw peak concurrent viewership surpass one million.
