PGL Details Counter-Strike 2 Ranked Competitions for 2025-2026

PGL reveals 2025-2026 competitive calendar for Ranked Counter-Strike 2 events. Credit: PGL

International esports tournament organizer PGL announced details on its upcoming Counter-Strike 2 Ranked tournaments for the 2025-2026 season. The international tournament organizer headquartered in Romania is announcing these competitions early as part of new licensing rules put in place by developer Valve concerning Counter-Strike 2 that go into effect in 2025.

PGL noted in its announcement Tuesday that it “is committed to hosting all its tournaments fully transparently and complying with Valve’s new licensing rules. This change marks a pivotal moment in esports, democratizing event organization and fostering a more vibrant and diverse competitive scene.”

PGL’s 2025 Ranked Counter-Strike 2 events include:

• PGL on FiRe Buenos Aires 2025 – Feb. 13-23, 2025: The capital of Argentina will serve as the host of the first tournament of 2025 at Teatro Gran Rex.
• PGL Bucharest 2025 – April 3-13, 2025: at the PGL Studios in Bucharest, Romania.
• PGL Astana 2025 – May 8-18, 2025: at the Barys Arena in Astana, Kazakhstan.
• PGL Belgrade 2025 – Oct. 23 – Nov. 2, 2025: at the Belgrade Arena in Belgrade, Serbia.

PGL will also work with its partner Perfect World (the official distributor of Valve titles in Mainland China) to produce PW CAC 2025, taking place Oct. 1-13, 2025. The event will be hosted and organized by Perfect World and held in a city in China (to be announced at a later date). PGL will serve as the official media partner outside China for this event.

Looking ahead to the 2026 competitive calendar, PGL will host the following Ranked Counter-Strike 2 competitions:

• PGL on FiRe Buenos Aires 2026 – Feb. 12-22, 2026: at the Estadio Mary Terán de Weiss in Buenos Aires.
• PGL Bucharest 2026 – April 2-12, 2026: to take place at the PGL Studios.
• PGL Astana 2026 – May 7-17, 2026: to be held at the Barys Arena.
• PGL Belgrade 2026 – Aug. 6-16, 2026: to be held at the Belgrade Arena.
• PGL on FiRe São Paulo – Oct. 1 – 11, 2026: to be hosted at a location TBD, in São Paulo, Brazil.
• PGL on FiRe Barcelona 2026 – Oct. 22 – Nov. 1, 2026: at a location TBD in Barcelona, Spain.

PGL also announced tournament rules for tournaments in 2025 and 2026, which you can read more about in this official blog post, but the organizer emphasized that all of these events are independent of each other.

Each tournament will feature a Group Stage, followed by Playoffs. The Group Stage will be using a 16-team Swiss System Format and best-of-three (BO3) matches. Playoffs will feature the top eight teams from the Group Stage in a single-elimination bracket. Quarterfinals and Semifinals will be contested in best-of-three (BO3) matches, while the Final will be a best-of-five (BO5) showdown.

The prize pool for all PGL Counter-Strike 2 Ranked events has been raised to “a level similar to the CS2 Majors,” according to PGL, with the total prize pool for each individual event clocking in at $1.25M USD. The breakdown of prizing for each event based on placement:

• 1st place: $425K
• 2nd place: $150K
• 3rd – 4th place: $125K (each)
• 5th – 8th place: $62.5K (each)
• 9th – 11th place: $31.25K (each)
• 12th – 14th place: $18.75K (each)
• 15th – 16th place: $12.5K (each)

In addition, PGL will offer $450K in “hospitality support” for each event, giving participating teams financial support for travel, accommodations, food, and more.

For each event, these funds will be used for:

• Eight round-trip flight tickets.
• Accommodation for 8 people per team, minimum 4-star hotel.
• Hospitality package for each team to cover food, beverages, and snacks during their stay.
• Practice room for six people during their stay.

PGL said in its announcement that it has committed to investing a total of $17M in the Counter-Strike 2 competitive scene for 2025-2026. Finally, the company said that–in addition to the 120 announced events–it will have “other surprises for the 2025-2026 calendar that will be announced at a later date.”