ESL announces stops in Cologne, Taipei and Katowice

This article was originally published on GameSpot's sister site onGamers.com, which was dedicated to esports coverage.

With IEM San Jose being right around the corner, ESL shared their exciting plans for 2015 with the public. In an announcement earlier today, the organizer revealed that merely three weeks after the American event, a gathering in the ESL studios in Cologne will commence. From 18 to 21 September 2014, the European eSports capital is set to welcome a tournament with a $30,000 prize pool for League of Legends which will close the calendar year.

Taipei is marked as the first stop in 2015. Parallel with the Taipei Game Show, an IEM competition will take place, featuring League of Legends and StarCraft 2: Heart of the Swarm from 28 January until the 1 February. Finally, the season will conclude with a stop in Katowice, Poland. There, from 12 until 15 March, the Spodek Arena will be home to a massive tournament with a $200,000 prize pool. The best StarCraft 2 players along with eight League of Legends teams from North America, Europe and Asia will be competing in Katowice for the title of IEM Champions.

Michal Blicharz, Managing Director Pro Gaming at ESL, shared his excitement at the 2015 schedule.

It's a massive milestone for us to go to two major sports arenas in one season. This is really shaping up to be the best Intel Extreme Masters season ever. I couldn't be more excited about the rest of the tour!

In addition, George Woo, Event and Sponsorships Program Manager Intel, had a say about the upcoming events, especially the closing act in Katowice, Poland.

I am very excited to bring the Intel Extreme Masters World Championship back to Poland. The passion of Polish fans is unparalleled. They help elevate our events to a whole new level.

The next IEM event will be hosted in San Jose, California on 6/7 December.

Daniel Yordanov is a reporter for onGamers, you can follow him on Twitter.