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ESL FACEIT Group (EFG) has revealed more information about the ESL Pro Tour (EPT), including dates and a new approach to distributing prize pools for the upcoming Counter-Strike 2 esports events.
One of the more notable changes for the 2025 esports season is a new categorisation of the prize pool, which will be divided into club and player prize money.
By dividing the tournament prize pools, EFG plans to foster an environment which would benefit both the Counter-Strike players and teams.
Today, we are excited to share new #ESLProTour 2025 updates following our initial announcement in October.
💵Total prize money & incentives
⚙️Details on #ESLProLeague & #IEM Dallas
📆Team invite cut-off dates pic.twitter.com/Hv4BVXe73f— ESL Counter-Strike (@ESLCS) December 16, 2024
The IEM Katowice 2025 and IEM Cologne 2025 prize pools have been increased from US$1 million to $1.25 million and will have an 80/20 split.
The other five events will feature a 30/70 or 40/60 split between player and club prize.
“We believe that players can achieve their highest potential when supported by a competitive base salary and well-organised club support structures. To create such an environment, we have implemented a system designed to benefit both clubs and players,” EFG said in a statement.
In addition, CS clubs can opt into the Annual Club Incentive Program, which will distribute the year-end pool among all participants with minimal additional obligations.
The club prize money and Annual Club Incentive payouts will be tied to ESL’s forecast profits and revenue, with ESL committing 10% of its revenue and 25% of its earnings from Tier 1 competitions to fund the payouts.
This non-exclusive system is designed to award clubs for their contributions to the ESL Pro Tour through tournament attendance, promotional activities, and viewership related to ESL events.
The tournament organisers will use a formula (V x N) to determine the club contributions by attributing points for earned viewership across EPT events (V) and multiplying it by the total number of ETP events the team has participated in (N).
As shorter events, Intel Extreme Masters Katowice and IEM Cologne will award between four and eight points depending on team rank; IEM Spring, Dallas, and Chengdu will award between six and 12 points; and ESL Pro League Season 21 and Season 22 will grant between seven and 14 points.
“Tournaments will be weighted differently based on their duration (reflecting the time commitment required from teams) and the anticipated difficulty of travel for teams. This approach aims to encourage teams to participate in events that are more challenging to accommodate within their competitive schedules,” EFG said.
For teams to be eligible to join the Annual Club Incentive program, they must participate in the tournaments they are invited to, including closed qualifiers and the main event. Moreover, teams have to commit to a core set of promotional obligations.
Squads may opt out of two events within one year and up to three within a two-year period and remain eligible.
Besides revealing the new categorisation of the prize pool and the Annual Club Incentive program, the tournament organisers also unveiled cut-off dates for the 2025 Counter-Strike esports events.
The new dates will correspond with the monthly Valve Regional Standings (VRS) publication and apply to both the main event and qualifiers.
The exact cut-off date for the seven LAN Counter-Strike events will be the day when the first VRS becomes available in the given month.
- IEM Katowice 2025 – January 2025
- ESL Pro League Season 21 – January 2025
- IEM Spring 2025 – February 2025
- IEM Dallas 2025 – February 2025
- IEM Cologne 2025 – June 2025
- ESL Pro League Season 22 – July 2025
- IEM Chengdu 2025 – August 2025
