Which will take place on the IEM Community Stage for a prize pool of $10,000 in the first Women's CS: GO tournament to be held in Australia at this level. Following two online qualifiers, the four top teams from Australia and New Zealand will play through the elimination round at the Vodafone booth on Saturday May 5 with the grand finals to be held the following day at the Community Stage.

“With the support of large brands entering the esports space, and a combined effort from tournament organisers like ESL, there is hope that we will have the backing to allow our community to develop and flourish for the future generation of women in esports," said Jessica Majrouh, competitor and captain of a finalist team.

The partnership follows the World Championships event held in Poland in March, also supported by Vodafone. “We’ve been following the rise of esports from the sideline and we’re thrilled to be involved officially this year,” said Ben McIntosh, Consumer Business Unit Director at Vodafone Australia.

Last year IEM Sydney drew in crowds of over 7000 fans, with over 8 million tuning in to the stream online. This year is set to be even bigger as 16 teams are set to play across three days with a total prize pool of $310,000 AUD.

For more info, head to the official IEM Sydney site.