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, S?o 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 Ter��n 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

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This collaboration builds upon their prior cooperation in hosting tournaments since 2017, particularly in the realms of Counter-Strike and Dota 2.

The partnership, which kicks off with this year’s CS2 Majors, slated to be organized by PGL in Copenhagen (PGL Major Copenhagen) from March 17-31 and by Perfect World in Shanghai from December 1-15, involves a reciprocal arrangement.

PGL will take charge of producing all Perfect World events in English and hold exclusive global broadcasting rights outside of China.

Conversely, Perfect World will handle the production of PGL events in China and possess broadcasting rights for the Chinese market.

This strategic alliance comes at a crucial juncture, especially considering the upcoming changes in Valve’s esports landscape, which will bring an end to the franchised structures of other tournament organizers like BLAST and ESL.

As a result, more opportunities are expected to emerge for tournament organizers to host major events featuring top teams.

Notably, PGL has previously announced its intention to host a series of high-stakes Dota 2 tournaments with substantial prize pools between 2024 and 2026.

However, details regarding PGL’s plans for Counter-Strike beyond this year’s Majors are yet to be unveiled.

The collaboration between PGL and Perfect World signifies a significant cross-regional partnership, aiming to optimize the production quality and broadcasting reach of esports events for both Counter-Strike 2 and Dota 2.

Additionally, the companies plan to explore co-branded opportunities that resonate with the gaming community, although specifics regarding these ventures remain undisclosed.

With PGL’s established expertise in English-speaking markets and Perfect World’s stronghold in the Chinese esports landscape, this partnership aims to elevate the visibility and impact of esports events globally, catering to audiences across different regions.

PGL and Perfect World Forge Strategic Esports Partnership for 2024-2026 Seasons

Read more about it: https://t.co/iGIfQ0pyuf pic.twitter.com/pEp4cv5ZzZ

— PGL (@pglesports) March 14, 2024

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This announcement comes in the wake of Valve’s decision to reduce its direct involvement in Dota 2 events, creating an opening for third-party organizers like PGL and ESL to shape the future of the esport.

The inaugural tournament, PGL Wallachia, is slated to commence in Bucharest, Romania, from May 10 to May 19, 2024, marking PGL’s return to the forefront of Dota 2 esports.

PGL, a seasoned organizer within the Dota 2 community, aims to reinvigorate the competitive scene with its ambitious tournament schedule.

Beginning with open qualifiers on March 21, 2024, followed by closed qualifiers starting March 25, PGL is setting the stage for intense competition and thrilling matchups.

This move signifies a significant resurgence for PGL, recalling its prominent role in hosting six major tournaments until 2018 and its involvement in DPC leagues until Valve’s decision to discontinue them after TI12.

Before unveiling its extensive tournament roadmap, PGL faced scrutiny over copyright issues with Dota 2 content creators.

However, the organization’s decision to retract its takedown notices, following community backlash, demonstrates its commitment to maintaining a positive relationship with the Dota 2 fanbase.

This strategic pivot underscores PGL’s dedication to laying a solid foundation for its upcoming series of tournaments, ensuring widespread support and engagement from the community.

The announcement of PGL’s tournaments heralds an exciting new chapter in Dota 2 esports.

With two events scheduled for 2024 and three each in 2025 and 2026, fans can anticipate high-stakes competitions featuring the world’s top teams.

As PGL steps up to fill the void left by Valve’s scaled-back involvement, the Dota 2 community eagerly anticipates the dawn of what promises to be a memorable era in esports history.

PGL Dota 2 roadmap for 2024�C26

• Tournament 1 2024: May 10�C19
• Tournament 2 2024: November 15-24
• Tournament 1 2025: March 6�C15
• Tournament 2 2025: April 18-27
• Tournament 3 2025: November 7-16
• Tournament 1 2026: March 6�C15
• Tournament 2 2026: April 17-26
• Tournament 3 2026: November 6�C15

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PGL also revealed that the PGL CS2 Major Copenhagen 2024 would be held from March 17-31. It will be the first Major event in Denmark and will take place at the Royal Arena, where several previous BLAST CS:GO events have occurred since 2017.

The tournament will be the first Major of Counter-Strike’s newest version, set to be released this summer. Valve informed fans of the new game early last week and began its Limited Beta Testing phase.

The game developer selected gamers to participate based on factors like their Steam account standing, playtime on official servers, and trust factor. The testing period is expected to last until Counter-Strike 2’s official release.

In a press release, PGL’s CEO Silviu Stroie revealed that it was an honor for the company to host such an important event, and they would strive to achieve a record-breaking viewership count with this tournament.

“One of the greatest games of all time is marching to another chapter, and we couldn’t be happier to host probably the most important Major of the franchise in recent years,” Stroie said.

“Denmark has a rich esports heritage, and we are excited to bring the world’s best Counter-Strike teams to Copenhagen to compete for the game’s most prestigious title. Our ambition for PGL CS2 Major Copenhagen 2024 is to break the game’s all-time viewership records.”

The tournament organizer set the previous record with the PGL Major Stockholm 2021, which achieved over a 2.7 million count during the match between G2 and Natus Vincere in the grand final.

PGL Major Copenhagen 2024 will be PGL’s fourth Major organized and the third since 2021. The tournament will feature 24 teams competing for a prize pool of $1.25 million.

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This occurrence is quite unusual for the Apex Legends community and the esports community at large. It is typical that players receive all their prize money almost immediately after tournaments. However, this particular matter of concern has sprung up for about four to five-month

This delay of payment caught public interest after the Australian player from Moist Esports, Ben “Wxltzy” Walton, revealed that he was going to compete at the Split One Playoffs LAN event, without being paid his previous winnings in July 2022 at the ALGS Championship LAN.

Esports commentator and co-owner of Full Squad Gaming, Jake Lucky, confirmed on December 28 that the players have finally been paid their winnings, which is suspected to be a result of the spiralling public attention it was garnering.

Yesterday Apex Pro Wxltzy complained about not being paid from the teams last LAN ($18,000 owed by EA/PGL)

Happy to say with the help of some public attention that the lads have been paid within 24 hours of posting

— Jake Lucky (@JakeSucky) December 28, 2022

Reports also suggested that most of the players who were paid first and shortly after the public outcry were the players who had made the complaint to co-event organisers PGL, and those who had taken to their social media pages to disclose the situation.

The Danish in-game leader, Casper “Gnaske” Prstensgaard, from European esports outfit Pioneer, said on Twitter: “Finally got my prize money from the championship. Only took 5 1/2 months Fuck you @pglesports for making me spend hours solving this shit and the endless disrespect I received from your staff.”

“Only when I provided the legal actions I was gonna pursue did you do shit.”

Gnaske said that regardless of finally being paid, they still ran at a loss, as the value of the money has declined from all the months wasted without payment.

“During this time the currency conversation rate dropped heavily which lead me to lose around 2850 USD��”

Reports revealed prior to the Apex Legend event early this year, all participating players were asked to sign a “Prize Winner Declaration and Release” which stated payments of the winnings will be done three months after.

However, with how things later unfolded, it took more than just three months before the players were rewarded for their winnings.

Following this controversy, other players, coaches, and Apex Legends teams such as DarkZero and Cloud9 have also reported not being paid winnings in a much earlier event, the Split Two playoffs, which were in May 2022 in Sweden.

Gnaske urged players who are still affected to make a public outcry and make sure to constantly send them an email in this regard.

“Spam email them, it��s worked for everyone who��s been paid so far,” he said.

Currently, neither of the game organizers, EA nor PGL, have made any public statements reporting what the reason was for the delayed payment and why some other players from an earlier event are still yet to be paid.

This silence, however, has driven speculation that the organisers had no intention of paying and may only be doing so now because it was made public.

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The 2023 DPC season has started with open qualifiers, now that Dota 2 rosters are set. Both new players and experienced ones have been competing to advance to the Closed Qualifiers.

However, some individuals attempted to cheat the system from the start.

This morning, Valve penalized 10 players for account sharing, one of whom was a member of the Virtus Pro team.

These players engaged in both account sharing and impersonating members of other teams during tournament games, behaviours that are strictly forbidden in Valve tournaments.

The announcement of the ban emanated from the official Twitter account of PGL, with the organiser stating that a list of players had been banned from participating in both current and future Valve events. The bans are effective immediately.

As a result of account sharing and impersonating members of other teams during tournament games, the following players are permanently banned by Valve:

Paradise��
Keintseru
SuperNova
Illusion
Lilskrip
Koma`
Chambl
Limtless
[T]SA
deihra

PGL will also ban these players.

— PGL (@pglesports) December 18, 2022

Some notable names that have invariably put an end to their careers in Dota 2 include Kamil “Koma`” Biktimirov of Virtus Pro, Viktor “SuperNova” Galichkin of HYDRA, Danil “illusion” Grzhevka of Ancient Tribe, Sergey “TSA” Timchenko formerly of B8 and Team Empire, and Aslan “Paradise” Vadilov of Felt in North America.

Virtus.pro took to their official Twitter page to react to the news, stating that they were aware of the situation and are looking into it. They said that after their investigation, more details will be shared with their fans and the general public.

“We are aware of the situation regarding one of our players,” the franchise said.

“As of now, we are conducting an internal investigation to understand more about the circumstances that led to this ban. We��ll share more details with you as soon as possible.”

We are aware of the situation regarding one of our players.
As of now, we are conducting an internal investigation to understand more about the circumstances that led to this ban. We��ll share more details with you as soon as possible.

— Virtus.pro (@virtuspro) December 18, 2022

Over the past year, the Russian esports organization has faced controversy surrounding their carry players, including an incident in which Ivan “Pure” Moskalenko displayed pro-war symbols during an official DPC game. This led to the organization being disqualified from a regional qualifier.

The recently recruited Chief Executive Officer of Virtus.pro, Nikolai Petrossian commented on the development. He approved of the sanctions dealt to the offenders.

��Despite the fact that Koma’ had made that fatal mistake before joining @virtuspro, the club strongly condemns any manipulations in professional esports, which undermine public trust to the esports industry,�� Petrossian said.

��Hope these tough sanctions will teach a lesson to everyone.��

Aside from the players listed being banned from participating in future Valve tournaments, they are also prohibited from partaking in all PGL events, and events by both organizations make up almost 95% of Dota 2’s competitive scene.

If they choose to continue playing competitive Dota 2, they will only be able to participate in small tournaments that are not affiliated with Valve or PGL.

Some of the players were found guilty of account sharing and impersonating other players, which indicates that they were attempting to assist teams in advancing through the Open Qualifiers by secretly playing on their behalf.

Others were lending out their accounts as part of the scheme. Both actions are considered illegal.

Valve has banned South American player Gianluca “Migi” Mendoza for match-fixing in addition to the 10 other bans that have been issued.

The Dota 2 world is currently in the midst of qualifiers for the DPC leagues, which have yet to officially begin. It appears that Valve is taking a more proactive approach to ensuring a level playing field this season compared to previous years.

The high number of bans issued at the start of the season demonstrates that Valve is taking the issue of fairness seriously, as the developer is typically seen as detached from the community unless a scandal occurs.

It is uncertain how the consequences of these bans will impact the teams and players involved. It is possible that they will encounter significant disruptions and difficulties as they attempt to rebuild and continue their careers. On the other hand, the lasting impact of these bans could serve as a warning to other players considering similar actions in the future.

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GG.Bet has been on an incredible rampage recently, securing ties as a betting partner for many big Dota 2 events and signing Team Vitality��s Counter Strike: Global Offensive Team as its international betting partner.

When GG.Bet made the announcement of the collaboration, the company stated that it was glad to provide continuing support to the growth of the esports industry and provide new options for gaming enthusiasts.

The online bookmaker happens to be the tournament’s first official partner for the 2022 edition of The International and also the first betting company to form an alliance with PGL.

“Becoming the first betting partner of the first three stages of this year��s The International is an incredible opportunity for GG.BET.
“We��ve come a long way with PGL and are delighted to take our collaboration to the next level. We will continue to organise unique shows, exciting contests, themed bonuses and prizes, and do everything else in our power to make sure every Dota 2 fan has an unforgettable time enjoying the tournament.” Dmitry Voshkarin, CEO of GG.BET said.

The online bookmaker will become a sponsor for the Regional Qualifiers, which will take place between September 3 and 17, the Last Chance Qualifier, which will take place between October 8 and 12, and the Group Stage, which will take place from October 15 to 18.

Additionally, GG.BET will collaborate with a wide range of sponsors and influencers to develop special content pertaining to the event that will begin today in Singapore. This content will include upcoming videos, predictions, reviews, as well as other content that will be made available to fans and spectators.

On September 2nd, Valve began selling the 2022 battle pass on September 2nd, giving fans the opportunity to donate to the prize pool at The International. At the time of this writing, the prize pool has a total value of over $5 million, and 25% of each transaction will be contributed to it.

PGL Events and GG.Bet have a long history of working together, and in April of this year, the two companies expanded their relationship, with GG.Bet in charge of handling the distribution of esports competitions for PGL. During that time period, the contract was finalized on the eve of the PGL Regional Major Rankings tournaments, which were held between April 11 and April 24.

This September’s announcement places GG.Bet in the spotlight once again with its collaborations, making it the third month in a row that it has done so. During the month of July, GG.Bet served as the event’s exclusive betting partner for the PGL Major Arlington 2022 competition. This marked the second major PGL event that GG.Bet was involved in during the Dota 2021�C2022 season. It took place from the 11th to the 24th of April.

Given a number of compelling factors, GG.Bet is widely regarded as the leading frontrunner for the title of becoming Canada’s top esports betting brand. It has earned the confidence of several teams across a wide range of competitions, including major tournaments and multiple games.

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?
Omega Esports enter this match winless in their last eight outings. That record looks even worse when you consider that they haven’t really faced any top teams outside of TNC Predator.

Fnatic, on the other side, have managed to win six out of their last 10 outings, although eight of those bouts happened in March and earlier. To highlight just how inactive Fnatic have been this year, they’ve appeared in only three official matches since clinching the DPC SEA Season 1 title on February 24.

Fnatic undeniably have a more stacked roster than Omega, but we don’t feel comfortable betting on a team that has played only three games across the last nine weeks. The value is with the outsiders.

?
TNC Predator and BOOM Esports last met just under a month ago at Asia Pacific Predator League 2020/21 – APAC, where TNC won 1-0. That result put them 2-0 up in the head-to-head stakes for 2021 and took their record over the last six meetings to 2-1-3.

BOOM were the better team towards the end of 2020, but some key departures have left them looking a lot dangerous than they use to. While they are still performing well against weaker sides, they’re constantly being outclassed by the region’s top dogs.

It is hard to predict how TNC will do in any given match. They can play like a world-class team one month, only to disappoint the next. They seem to be in great form at the moment, however, having won all but one of their last nine series.

Considering how up-and-down TNC can be, it��s fair to doubt their ability to cover the map handicap, but at the offered price and with the form they’ve been showing, they’re worth a bet.

The post PGL Dota Pro Circuit SEA Season 2 predictions – May 5, 2021 appeared first on Esport Bet.

?Lilgun and Omega Esports will lock horns in the opening match of the tournament. It will mark their fourth meeting of the year, with Lilgun winning the first bout 2-0 but getting swept in the next two – most recently two weeks back at Asian New Bloom.

The odds on Omega might seem low, but it’s a fair price in our book. Lilgun haven’t shown anything of note for the last few weeks and enter this match on a five-game losing streak, whereas Omega have claimed two titles this year and come into this clash with four wins from their last five outings.

Omega are far from a top-tier SEA Dota 2 team, but they are playing well. They have beaten Lilgun before and seem to be very consistent against weaker teams, so we have to trust them to cover the map handicap.

TNC Predator enter this tournament with a lot to prove, having finished in fourth last season to miss out on the 2021 Singapore Major. Although it’s hard to argue TNC deserved to finish inside the top three in February, they would have made the cut had they not lost 0-2 to Execration in the tournament opener.

TNC went on to defeat Vice Esports, T1, BOOM Esports, and 496 Gaming, but they dropped the ball against Neon Esports and Fnatic. That was still better than Execration, who ended the season with a 1-5 run with their only other win coming against 496 Gaming.

TNC are 6-1 since the start of April, while Execration are 5-1 in the same stretch, albeit against slightly weaker opponents. Regardless, Execration seem to be in good form and should be able to force a tight series.

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This will mark BOOM Esports’ fifth head-to-head meeting with Execration since June 2020 and their first since October, when the Indonesian squad won 2-0. For this match, BOOM will be without their carry Andrew “Drew” Halim and will instead field Nuengnara “23savage” Teeramahanon, who has been announced as a stand-in for the remainder of the DPC 2021 S1 Upper Division matches.

Although bringing in 23savage will likely harm BOOM’s synergy a bit, we are not too concerned about their overall quality. BOOM definitely won’t be any weaker with the ex-ViCi Gaming player, and we would go even so far as to say they might be even stronger with him on the team.

Even though this is an online match, BOOM are still a much stronger team than Execration, who will struggle to win a single map, let alone the series. Take BOOM to win with a clean sweep.

Vice Esports’ only win of the tournament came just under two weeks ago when they bested Execration (2-1). They now hold a 1-4 record, which more or less guarantees them elimination from the division, but that does not necessarily mean they don’t stand a chance against T1.

Vice’s only prior meeting with T1 happened in December 2020, when they forced a 1-1 stalemate. T1 have since added Carlo “Kuku” Palad and Matthew “Whitemon” Filemon to their roster in a bid to introduce some stability, but as it stands now, they have yet to show any.

T1 enter this match off a 2-0 sweep of Execration. While that result might look good on paper, it’s important to note that T1 gave up 50 kills across the series. If they don��t improve, that could be a problem against Vice, who have the tools to exploit T1’s recklessness. For that reason, we are taking a shot with the underdogs to win at least one map.

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