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PGL has announced an ambitious schedule of 11 tier-one Counter-Strike 2 events across the globe over the next two years, marking their re-entry into the competitive scene.
These events will take place in various locations, including annual tournaments in Astana, Kazakhstan, and Buenos Aires, Argentina, with additional events planned in Bucharest, Belgrade, São Paulo, and Barcelona.
📢 Exciting news for CS2 fans! 🌍
🎯 Get ready for PGL CS2 2025-2026 Ranked Global Tournaments Across Iconic Landmarks!
📰 Find out all the locations, dates, and details here: https://t.co/I6rvnrODiG#PGLCS2 pic.twitter.com/L52U5VSJ0P
— PGL (@pglesports) August 27, 2024
The organiser has hinted at more events to come, stating that “other surprises” may be in store beyond the initial eleven.
After several years of focusing on Valve Majors and collaborating with Perfect World, PGL is now expanding its tournament offerings.
The company has pledged to host six of these events independently, while four will be in partnership with FiReSPORTS, and one event will continue their collaboration with Perfect World for the CS Asia Championships.
This move aligns with Valve’s shift towards a more open competitive landscape, eliminating direct team-to-tournament organiser partnerships from 2025 onwards.
Each event will feature 16 teams, invited directly based on the global Valve Regional Standings (VRS).
With no open qualifiers due to the “very busy event schedule,” if a team declines their invite or cannot secure visas, the invitation will pass to the next team in the VRS.
The only exception to the global invite system will be for the three South American events, where the top two teams from the home region will receive automatic invites alongside 14 intercontinental teams.
These events will follow a best-of-three Swiss system group stage, leading to an eight-team single elimination playoff bracket with a best-of-five grand final.
Each tournament will offer a Major-level prize pool of US$1.25 million and a US$450,000 budget for hospitality, covering tickets, accommodation for eight people, meals, and six-person practice rooms for each invited team.
The venues for eight of these events have already been announced, including Buenos Aires’ Teatro Gran Rex in 2025 and Estadio Mary Terán de Weiss in 2026, Astana’s Barys Arena, and Belgrade’s 20,000-capacity arena.
The Bucharest event will be hosted in PGL’s studios without a live audience.
PGL emphasised that this shift represents a pivotal moment in esports, aiming to democratise event organisation and foster a more vibrant and diverse competitive scene.
As CS2 transitions to a more open format in 2025, other tournament organisers, such as StarLadder, have also announced their return to Counter-Strike, signalling the end of ESL and BLAST’s long-standing dominance.
2025 tournament schedule
- February 13-23: PGL on FiRe Buenos Aires
- April 3-13: PGL Bucharest
- May 8-18: PGL Astana
- October 1-13: Perfect World CS Asia Championship
- October 23-November 2: PGL Belgrade
2026 tournament schedule
- February 12-22: PGL on FiRe Buenos Aires
- April 2-12: PGL Bucharest
- May 7-17: PGL Astana
- August 6-16: PGL Belgrade
- October 1-11: PGL on FiRe Sao Paulo
- October 22-November 1: PGL on FiRe Barcelona 2026
