| 2015 | |
 The ESL One Cologne 2015 logo | |
| Tournament information | |
|---|---|
| Sport | Counter-Strike: Global Offensive |
| Location | Cologne, North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany |
| Dates | August 14, 2015–August 18, 2015 |
| Administrator | Valve ESL |
Tournament format(s) | GSL double elimination group stage Eight team single elimination playoff |
| Venue | Lanxess Arena |
| Teams | 16 teams |
| Purse | $250,000 USD |
| Final positions | |
| Champions | Fnatic (3rd title) |
| 1st runners-up | Team EnVyUs |
| 2nd runners-up | Virtus.pro Team SoloMid |
| MVP | Robin "flusha" Rönnquist |
ESL One Cologne 2015 was the sixth Counter-Strike: Global Offensive Major Championship that was held from August 14–18, 2015 at the Lanxess Arena in Cologne.[1] It was organized by Electronic Sports League. The Cologne event was the first ESL tournament that required competitors to take drug tests, which all came up negative.[2][3][4] The tournament had a total prize pool of US$250,000. The online livestream was viewed by around 27 million viewers with a peak of 1.3 million concurrent viewers.[5]
Eight teams were in the playoffs. Fnatic, Luminosity Gaming, Natus Vincere, Ninjas in Pyjamas, Team EnVyUs, Team SoloMid, and Virtus.pro were returning Legends. Team Kinguin was the only new Legend in the tournament, replacing mousesports, which failed to make the top eight. Fnatic, which defeated Luminosity Gaming and Virtus.pro, was the winner of the event after defeating Team EnVyUs, which defeated Natus Vincere and Team SoloMid, 2–0.[6] Fnatic was the first team to have consecutive major titles and would be the only team to do so until SK Gaming (which was Luminosity Gaming at this tournament) when the Brazilian team won MLG Columbus 2016 and ESL One Cologne 2016.
- ^ Rittfeldt, Joachim (August 8, 2015). "ESL One Cologne – About". Aftonbladet. Retrieved November 18, 2015.
- ^ Chalk, Andy (August 25, 2015). "ESL One Cologne drug tests come up empty". PC Gamer. Retrieved November 16, 2015.
- ^ Neuman, Scott (August 13, 2015). "Video Game League Announces Random Drug Tests For Competitors". NPR. Retrieved November 16, 2015.
- ^ Chalk, Andy (July 23, 2015). "ESL to begin randomized drug testing at ESL One Cologne". PC Gamer. Retrieved November 16, 2015.
- ^ Wynne, Jared (August 26, 2015). "ESL One Cologne pulls in $4.2 million in revenue for teams, sets viewer records". The Daily Dot. Archived from the original on March 5, 2016. Retrieved November 16, 2015.
- ^ Rad, Chloi (August 25, 2015). "27 Million People Watched the Biggest Counter-Strike Tournament Ever". IGN. Retrieved November 16, 2015.