ESEA has announced that their Season 5 Playoffs will be held during a LAN event, much like the last two seasons. It will be held in conjunction with Intel’s LANFest series, which is set to take place on March 12-14 in Dallas, TX. This event will showcase the top teams from CS 1.6, CS:Source, and for the first time, Team Fortress 2, from ESEA’s invite division. This will be ESEA’s first LAN finals that will be showcasing all three games. The countries top gamers will battle it out for their piece of the $45,000 prize purse. Below is an excerpt from the official release:

 

The event will be held in conjunction with Intel’s LAN Fest series and feature a modest BYOC in addition to a tournament area showcasing the top CS 1.6, CS: Source, and TF2 teams from our invite divisions. Fans and ESEA community members can enjoy a weekend of nonstop gaming and watch the country’s top gamers battle it out for their piece of the $45,000 prize purse.

This event is the first official ESEA community gathering and another step forward as we look to host larger BYOC events with more lead time for subsequent seasons across the country. With about 20 events scheduled for 2010, Intel LAN Fest hosts BYOC events from Boston to Portland with all proceeds being donated to charity. To date Intel LAN Fest has raised over $314,000!

 

More information can be found at http://www.esea.net