CS2 Esports Calendar 2025: All Majors and Big Events

This year is absolutely filled with huge CS2 esports events. The community has many tournaments for the traditional Counter-Strike competitive series: Intel Extreme Masters, BLAST, PGL, and ESL. In addition to this, the CS2 2025 esports schedule features some relatively new (at least to the S-tier set) or previously disappeared event brands: Skyesports Masters, StarLadder, Esports World Cup, CS Asia, and Thunderpick.

The prize pools are definitely impressive in 2025! There are a few events with $1,250,000 in prize money. The lowest confirmed amount is a pretty sweet $350,000.

There are two CS2 Majors happening in 2025. Well, the year is just mind-blowing! All the information about the CS2 esports 2025 calendar is here. Check out the schedule of events, their format, and eventually, the final results.

Winter 2025: CS2 Esports Schedule

Three big Counter-Strike 2 esports tournaments happen in winter 2025 (January and February). They are powered by three different organizers.

This period is somewhat slow for CS2 esports but still very important. The teams are not in full action after the holidays and the previous season. At the same time, it is important for them to test new rosters and improve the synergy between players in real competition.

BLAST Bounty Spring 2025

• Dates: 13 – 18 January (closed qualifiers); 23 – 26 January (main event)
• Location: Copenhagen, Denmark
• Prize Pool: $500,000
• Number of teams: 32 in the qualifiers; 8 in the main event
• Twitch stream: BLASTPremier
• Winners: TBD

BLAST Premier CS2 experiments with a new format in 2025. The BLAST Bounty Spring is the first event of the new series and the prize money depends on participants’ tournament performances, not only on the final placements.

This CS2 esports event features a series of closed qualifiers. The top 28 in the Valve Global Standings and four Wildcard teams battle for eight invites to the BLAST Bounty Spring 2025 LAN Finals.

The main event consists of single-elimination brackets for the top eight CS2 teams.

Intel Extreme Masters Katowice 2025

• Dates: 29 January – 9 February (Play-In, Groups, and Playoffs)
• Location: Katowice, Poland
• Prize Pool: TBA
• Number of teams: 24
• Twitch stream: ESLCS, ESLCSb (secondary)
• Winners: TBD

Spodek Arena in Katowice is an iconic place for the Counter-Strike community. The 2025 CS2 esports schedule is impossible without having an IEM tournament here at the beginning of February.

Traditionally, only the Playoff matches happen in front of fans. 16 Play-In teams battle for eight spots in Groups, where they are joined by eight invited teams—to try and reach the top eight final brackets.

Victory at Intel Extreme Masters Katowice is a prestigious achievement, so matches here are always exceptional.

PGL Cluj-Napoca 2025

• Dates: 14 – 23 February
• Location: Cluj-Napoca, Romania
• Prize Pool: $1,250,000
• Number of teams: 16
• Twitch stream: PGL
• Winners: TBD

Competitive Counter-Strike is super popular in Eastern Europe. It is great to see top-level CS2 esports events heading to this region in 2025.

PGL Cluj-Napoca 2025 features the top 16 teams in the Valve Global Standings. After the Group Stage, only eight will continue battling for the title. The Playoffs format includes a third-placement match, which is very unusual.

Spring 2025: CS2 Top Tournaments

Spring is a super exciting period in the CS2 2025 calendar. The teams are done with the roster adaptation, so everyone expects their true power to be unleashed. Big esports tournaments happen in different regions, and the prize pools motivate top teams to participate in most of them.

In a way, it’s also preparation for the first CS2 Major of 2025, which happens at the beginning of summer.

Let’s take a look at the most important CS2 esports events of spring 2025.

ESL Pro League Season 21

• Dates: 25 February – 16 March (Two Swiss stages and Playoffs)
• Location: TBA
• Prize Pool: TBA
• Number of teams: 24
• Twitch stream: ESLCS, ESLCSb (secondary)
• Winners: TBD

Every competitive year has two ESL Pro League Seasons, and 2025 starts with Season 21.

The format has changed: CS2 ESL Pro League Season 21 consists of two initial stages. During Stage 1, 16 teams battle for eight qualification spots. In Stage 2, eight invited teams join the qualified participants. These stages are under the Swiss System format.

The final Playoffs are traditional single-elimination top eight brackets.

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BLAST Open Spring 2025

• Dates: 19 – 30 March
• Location: Lisbon, Portugal (Playoffs)
• Prize Pool: $400,000
• Number of teams: 16
• Twitch stream: BLASTPremier
• Winners: TBD

The Group stage of CS2 BLAST Open Spring 2025 happens in the Copenhagen studio, with no fans. The top 12 teams in the Valve Global Standings and four teams qualified from BLAST Rising in different regions compete to reach the highest placements in two groups and advance to the main event.

The Playoffs are single-elimination top eight brackets. So far, it’s the only big CS2 esports event confirmed for the MEO Arena in Lisbon.

PGL Bucharest 2025

• Dates: 6 – 13 April
• Location: Bucharest, Romania
• Prize Pool: $1,250,000
• Number of teams: 16
• Twitch stream: PGL
• Winners: TBD

The second PGL CS2 event of 2025 takes place in the home country of this esports tournament organizer.

In general, PGL Bucharest 2025 repeats the format of the Cluj-Napoca competition: 16 teams in groups, and eight of them advance to the Playoffs.

Each venue delivers an exciting show and creates a special atmosphere. It’s interesting to delve into the Romanian spirit in the middle of spring 2025!

Intel Extreme Masters Spring 2025

• Dates: 21 – 27 April
• Location: TBA
• Prize Pool: TBA
• Number of teams: 16
• Twitch stream: ESLCS, ESLCSb (secondary)
• Winners: TBD

This CS2 IEM tournament is a different format to the one in Katowice. The competition has fewer stages (no Play-In matches), and therefore, there are fewer teams at Intel Extreme Masters Spring 2025.

As for the time of writing this CS2 esports schedule, the location and the prize pool are not officially confirmed. We will add the information when it’s available. Stay tuned!

BLAST Rivals Spring 2025

• Dates: 30 April – 4 May
• Location: TBA
• Prize Pool: $350,000
• Number of teams: 8
• Twitch stream: BLASTPremier
• Winners: TBD

The Rivals series is another format introduced by BLAST for the CS2 esports community.

The tournament is smaller, as there are only eight teams participating in BLAST Rivals Spring 2025. Four come from the Valve Global leaderboard and four are Wildcards from main regions.

Might an underdog team have better chances of winning because there are fewer participants?

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PGL Astana 2025

• Dates: 10 – 18 May
• Location: Astana, Kazakhstan
• Prize Pool: $1,250,000
• Number of teams: 16
• Twitch stream: PGL
• Winners: TBD

Not only does the PGL CS2 series highlight new and somewhat unusual locations, but it also introduces a new format to the top esports scene. The final brackets are for the top eight teams. Also, there is a match for third place, which is not happening at other top tier Counter-Strike 2 events.

Astana is a big community for CS2 esports, so the region of Central Asia deserves this chance to host competitions.

Intel Extreme Masters Dallas 2025

• Dates: 19 – 25 May
• Location: Dallas, USA
• Prize Pool: TBA
• Number of teams: 16
• Twitch stream: ESLCS, ESLCSb (secondary)
• Winners: TBD

Dallas is a common location for many esports tournaments—not just CS2. The IEM series visits this city in May 2025.

The format is based on two double-elimination groups for all 16 teams and then single-elimination brackets for the top six participants.

It is a good tradition for Intel Extreme Masters to host an exceptional esports show. Don’t miss it!

Skyesports Masters 2025

• Dates: 26 May – 1 June
• Location: TBA, India
• Prize Pool: $500,000
• Number of teams: 8
• Twitch stream: skyesportsofficial
• Winners: TBD

Not too many big CS2 esports tournaments take place in India. This should change, as the region has so many dedicated players. The event Skyesports Masters 2025 takes a good step in the right direction!

The competitive format whirls around eight participating teams: four come from the Valve Global Standings, and four will earn their spots from the closed qualifiers. The Group stage features Swiss System matches. Then, there are single-elimination brackets.

Open qualifiers allow smaller teams to break into Skyesports Masters 2025 and prove their mettle in the top competitive scene.

Summer 2025: Competitive CS2 Calendar

The hot season of summer starts with the first CS2 Major of 2025. Then, we have a few other big tournaments. Some of them are pretty traditional for the Counter-Strike competitive community, like IEM in Cologne. Others are trying to build their reputation—helped by high prize pools.

In general, summer 2025 is relatively slow for CS2 esports. Maybe it is connected to the natural tendency to spend extra time outside (in the Northern Hemisphere). Or maybe the teams focus their effort on big events and prepare for the tense season finale in autumn.

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BLAST.tv Austin Major 2025

• Dates: 9 – 12 June (Opening stage); 14 – 17 June (Elimination stage); 19 – 22 June (Playoffs)
• Location: Austin, USA
• Prize Pool: $1,250,000
• Number of teams: 24
• Twitch stream: BLASTPremier
• Winners: TBD

The geography of CS2 Majors is super impressive! It feels like Valve tries to ignite the competitive fire in different regions—and they are pretty successful with this. In June 2025, the esports schedule of CS2 features a Major tournament in Austin, Texas.

BLAST.tv Austin Major 2025 is an extended format, with the Opening stage for 16 teams to try and join the eight invited participants in the Elimination stage. The main event is single-elimination Playoff brackets.

So far, we have only two CS2 tournaments confirmed in the USA for 2025. One of them being a Major is simply huge!

FISSURE Summer 2025

• Dates: 15 – 20 June
• Location: Belgrade, Serbia
• Prize Pool: $1,000,000
• Number of teams: 16
• Twitch stream: fissure_cs_eng
• Winners: TBD

On the one hand, this event is by a smaller organizer in a minor region. On the other hand, FISSURE Summer 2025 tries to draw the community’s attention thanks to the prize money. $1,000,000 is a decent pool to get distracted from the Austin Major—especially for the teams that don’t succeed at the bigger event.

Four double-elimination groups lead to single-elimination Playoff brackets. The participants come from the Valve Global Standings.

Intel Extreme Masters Cologne 2025

• Dates: 23 July – 3 August
• Location: Cologne, Germany
• Prize Pool: TBA
• Number of teams: 24
• Twitch stream: ESLCS, ESLCSb (secondary)
• Winners: TBD

There would be no competitive season for CS2 without a tournament in the Counter-Strike cathedral. Cologne is an iconic location for the community, and it’s just wonderful to have IEM here again in 2025.

Traditionally, the event has lots of CS2 matches to enjoy and cheer for your favorites. The starting Play-In stage is for 16 teams from the Valve Global Standings; only eight of them will join eight directly qualified participants in the Group stage. The Playoffs are classic single-elimination brackets.

BLAST Bounty Fall 2025

• Dates: 14 – 17 August
• Location: Copenhagen, Denmark
• Prize Pool: $500,000
• Number of teams: 8
• Twitch stream: BLASTPremier
• Winners: TBD

The Bounty format of the BLAST CS2 tournaments returns in August 2025. The teams can boost their performance stats to get a bigger piece of prize money.

All eight participants of BLAST Bounty Fall 2025 will earn their spots via closed qualifiers.

The tournament itself is condensed action: only the single-elimination Playoff brackets. The timing and the rewards should motivate top CS2 esports teams to attend the competition.

Esports World Cup 2025

• Dates: 20 – 24 August
• Location: Riyadh, Saudi Arabia
• Prize Pool: $1,250,000
• Number of teams: 16
• Twitch stream: EWC_CS
• Winners: TBD

In the vast world of esports, the EWC tournaments are quite unusual. The organizers invite a huge variety of gaming communities to the streams and the arena. Many titles are present at the Esports World Cup 2025, including Counter-Strike 2.

The prize pool hits the level of the official Valve-sponsored Majors. The format of CS2 EWC 2025 is more about the esports show than an extended competition. The event goes on for five days, so the teams have little space for mistakes and recoveries.

Autumn 2025: Conclusion of the CS2 Esports Year

The end of a season is always exciting in CS2 esports. Most teams will have reached their best synergy and are ready to unleash their true power. The schedule is as intense as ever, and the fans barely have time without tournaments—one event starts after another.

Autumn 2025 continues the trend of the entire year: top-level Counter-Strike 2 visits an impressive variety of regions. Here are all the big CS2 events at the end of 2025.

BLAST Open Fall 2025

• Dates: 27 August – 7 September
• Location: London, UK (Playoffs)
• Prize Pool: $400,000
• Number of teams: 16
• Twitch stream: BLASTPremier
• Winners: TBD

BLAST CS2 has the second tournament of their Open series in 2025. BLAST Open Fall 2025 features a Group stage with double-elimination brackets and Playoff matches under the single-elimination format.

16 teams participate in this CS2 esports event. In addition to 12 from the Valve Global Standing, the organizers let four teams from regional qualifiers try their competitive spirit in matches against the world’s best.

FISSURE Autumn 2025

• Dates: 9 – 21 September
• Location: Belgrade, Serbia
• Prize Pool: $1,250,000
• Number of teams: 16
• Twitch stream: fissure_cs_eng
• Winners: TBD

The FISSURE series has another seasonal CS2 tournament. The prize pool helps it stand out, so the best Counter-Strike 2 players should feel motivated to participate in FISSURE Autumn 2025. At the same time, the dates are again slightly off, as if the organizers intentionally want to compete with other events for the community’s attention.

16 teams from the Valve Global Standings play in the Swiss Group stage and then in the single-elimination Playoff matches. The event takes place in Belgrade—the city is hosting a few big tournaments this CS2 esports season.

StarLadder StarSeries Season 20

• Dates: 13 – 21 September
• Location: Budapest, Hungary
• Prize Pool: $500,000
• Number of teams: 20
• Twitch stream: starladder_cs_en
• Winners: TBD

StarLadder returns to the top CS2 season with Season 20. The tournament highlights another interesting location on the world map: Budapest.

The competition format includes American and European qualifiers: four teams advance to the main event from them. 12 teams are invited to the Group stage of the double-elimination format. Four more teams get their invites directly to the final brackets—also double-elimination, which is somewhat unusual and gives the teams a second chance.

Skyesports Championship 2025

• Dates: 15 – 21 September
• Location: TBA, India
• Prize Pool: $500,000
• Number of teams: 8
• Twitch stream: skyesportsofficial
• Winners: TBD

Only eight teams can participate in this Indian CS2 championship. Four of them will earn their spots via open regional qualifiers and a common closed one. Four teams get their invites thanks to high Valve Global leaderboard placements.

This relatively small number of participants doesn’t mean a short tournament. Skyesports Championship 2025 features the round-robin Group stage: all teams play against each other, and that’s quite a lot of excellent CS2 matches. The top four advance to the semi-finals.

ESL Pro League Season 22

• Dates: 23 September – 12 October
• Location: TBA
• Prize Pool: TBA
• Number of teams: 24
• Twitch stream: ESLCS, ESLCSb (secondary)
• Winners: TBD

Season 22 of the ESL Pro League repeats the new format for the series, introduced in 2025. Two initial stages are of the Swiss System, and then the best CS2 teams advance to the single-elimination Playoffs.

To start playing in the first stage, nine participants will earn their spots via the ESL Challenger events. Five more are invited thanks to their Global placements. Only eight of them advance to the next stage, where they join eight more teams with even better results in the Valve Global Standings. The final brackets are for the top eight teams.

CS Asia Championships 2025

• Dates: 1 – 13 October
• Location: TBA, China
• Prize Pool: TBA
• Number of teams: 24
• Twitch stream: PGL
• Winners: TBD

This massive CS2 esports tournament is powered by the Chinese organizer Perfect World, which hosted Perfect World Shanghai Major 2024.

CS Asia Championships 2025 has an extended number of participants, 24: for comparison, there were only eight in 2023. Some spots are distributed via regional qualifiers in Europe, America, and Asia.

Thunderpick World Championship 2025

• Dates: 15 – 19 October
• Location: TBA, Europe
• Prize Pool: $850,000
• Number of teams: 8
• Twitch stream: gridesports
• Winners: TBD

To reach the final part of this CS2 esports tournament, four teams need to make it through open qualifiers in three regions, two for each: Europe, North America, and South America. The participants are determined in the following closed qualifier. The other four teams earn their spots thanks to high positions on the Valve Global Standings.

There are no groups during the Thunderpick World Championship 2025 main event. The teams advance directly to the Playoff brackets.

PGL Belgrade 2025

• Dates: 25 October – 2 November
• Location: Belgrade, Serbia
• Prize Pool: $1,250,000
• Number of teams: 16
• Twitch stream: PGL
• Winners: TBD

It’s the final PGL CS2 tournament of 2025. The organizers continue with their idea of the top eight brackets and a match for third place.

In addition to the standard set of Valve Global Standings teams, four participants are from regional qualifiers. The Group stage is under the Swiss System format, so there are five rounds of exciting Counter-Strike 2 matches at PGL Belgrade 2025. Yes, it’s another CS2 esports event in Serbia’s capital city.

Intel Extreme Masters Chengdu 2025

• Dates: 3 – 9 November
• Location: Chengdu, China
• Prize Pool: TBA
• Number of teams: 16
• Twitch stream: ESLCS, ESLCSb (secondary)
• Winners: TBD

The IEM Chengdu 2025 event concludes the extended series of ESL-powered CS2 tournaments in 2025.

All 16 teams start directly from the Group stage: six of them come from the Valve Regional Standings. After the double-elimination group brackets, the top six participants advance to the single-elimination Playoffs.

It’s great to see such a big Counter-Strike 2 series exploring the vast region of China, which has so many dedicated gamers.

Skyesports World Tour 2025

• Dates: 10 – 16 November
• Location: TBA, India
• Prize Pool: $500,000
• Number of teams: 8
• Twitch stream: skyesportsofficial
• Winners: TBD

In general, the Skyesports World Tour 2025 repeats the competitive format of the Championship by the same organizer—Skyesports hosts two such CS2 events in autumn 2025.

Four participants come from the Valve Global Standings, and four teams will advance from the regional and closed qualifiers. The Group stage is based on the round-robin format, so we can see matches between all the participants. The Playoffs are single-elimination brackets for the top four teams.

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BLAST Rivals Fall 2025

• Dates: 12 – 16 November
• Location: TBA
• Prize Pool: $350,000
• Number of teams: 8
• Twitch stream: BLASTPremier
• Winners: TBD

It’s the final BLAST CS2 tournament of 2025. Due to the busy esports calendar, we have another situation with a couple of events happening simultaneously—which means even more top-level Counter-Strike matches.

Four teams from the Valve Global Standings and four Wildcard participants compete at BLAST Rivals Fall 2025. The Group stage features double-elimination brackets for two groups. The final single-elimination Playoffs are for the top six teams.

CS2 Major Championship Winter 2025

• Dates: 1 – 4 December (Opening stage); 6 – 9 December (Elimination stage); 11 – 14 December (Playoffs)
• Location: TBA
• Prize Pool: $1,250,000
• Number of teams: 24
• Twitch stream: TBA
• Winners: TBD

Traditionally, we have a CS2 Major as an exciting conclusion of the esports year. And yes, technically, it happens in winter—the only one at the start of December, so we included it in the autumn set.

CS2 Major Championship Winter 2025 has the highest prize pool level and an extended competitive format. 16 teams start from the opening stage, and only eight of them advance further to join 16 more teams in the elimination stage. The final CS2 matches are under the single-elimination format.

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