CS2 Esports News

The ESL FACEIT Group has announced that the ESL Pro League Season 24 Finals will be hosted at the iconic Spodek Arena in Katowice, Poland, from October 9 to 11, 2026. This marks the first EPL live arena playoffs since 2019, bringing back the electrifying in-person experience that fans have long awaited. With a reputation as one of Counter-Strike’s most historic venues, Spodek’s live atmosphere promises to elevate the spectacle of EPL to new heights. A Historic Venue for Counter-Strikemore

The BLAST Bounty Fall 2025 takes place from August 14 - 17, 2025, at the BLAST Arena Studios in Malta. Eight top teams, qualified through an intense closed qualifier, will compete for a share of the dynamic $500,000 prize pool, spiced up with BLAST’s innovative bounty format. Format The playoffs will feature a single-elimination bracket. Teams will carry over their bounties from the Closed Qualifiers. Underdogs pick their opening matchups and can earn half the beaten team's bounty as instant prize money, inheriting the rest as their risk for the next match. The quarterfinals and semifinals will be played asmore

For almost 25 years, Counter-Strike has dominated the tactical-shooter genre. Ever since its release in the year 2000, the game has captivated millions on the back of its intricate, easy to learn, hard to master shooting mechanics. But what really makes the franchise timeless is the community. No community is as integrated with its game. This is best reflected by the fact that the covert of the latest CS case, the AWP | Printstream, as well as the most requested map of the moment, Cache, are both products of the community’s ingenuity. These are just two of the many examplesmore

Counter-Strike’s most iconic trophy has just gotten better. Following the conclusion of the 2025 IEM Cologne Grand Finals, ESL announced the return of the Major to the Cathedral of Counter-Strike. Starting August 18th, the LANXESS Arena will host the top eight Counter-Strike teams for the first Major of 2026. A Return After 8 years Last time Cologne hosted the Major, the Brazilian SK led by FalleN took down s1mple and Team Liquid 2-0 in the Grand Finals to win back-to-backmore

Team Spirit have claimed their first IEM Cologne title in spectacular fashion, sweeping MOUZ with a 3-0 victory in the Grand Finals at the LANXESS Arena. The Russian squad delivered a masterclass performance that left no doubt about their superiority, closing out the matches on Mirage (13-7), Ancient (13-11), and Nuke (13-6). donk Shines as Tournament MVP The star of the show was once again 17-year-old Danil "donk" Kryshkovets, who earned the tournament MVP award with an exceptional performance throughoutmore

After 10 days of breathtaking Counter-Strike action, only two teams remain at IEM Cologne — MOUZ and Team Spirit. MOUZ, the knights who have finally slain the Vitality dragon, will look to secure their second S-tier trophy. Team Spirit, the CIS powerhouse led by donk, aims to take down MOUZ once more and cement their place as a top-three team. The two contenders will take center stage at LANXESS Arena, and a best-of-five will decide the Conqueror of the Cathedralmore

After months of dominance, Team Vitality’s impressive run came to a dramatic end at IEM Cologne. MOUZ, after suffering seven consecutive losses to Vitality earlier this year, finally turned the tables in a tense and thrilling matchup. The victory was significant - not only did MOUZ finally took down the French powerhouse, but they also secured their place in the prestigious Cologne final for a chance to claim one of the most coveted trophies in the circuit. This win was a testament to MOUZ’s persistence and adaptability, showing how they learned from past defeats and refined their strategies to overcomemore

The current no.1 Chess player, Magnus Carlsen, has won the inaugural Chess Esports World Cup by defeating Alireza Firouzja in the Grand Finals. With the win, Magnus has won $250k for himself and 1000 Club Championship points for Team Liquid. Chess at EWC 2025: A Recap The EWC 2025 Chess action kicked off with the LCQs featuring 16 players. Only five of them made it through: Nihal Sarin Javokhir Sindarov Levon Aronian Anish Giri Andrey Episenko These joined the 11more

After two weeks of intense Counter-Strike action, six teams earn the right to step into the LANXESS arena. These final contenders will now compete for the ultimate glory—the IEM Cologne title. Let the action in the Cathedral of Counter-Strike begin… Teams & Format Only 6 out of the 24 competing teams have survived the IEM Cologne competition. These are: Group A Team Vitality The MongolZ FURIA Group B Team Spirit MOUZ Natus Vincere The group winners are directly seeded into the Semifinals. The remaining  four teams play each other in the Quarterfinals to stay alive. All the games played willmore

Two weeks after the Premier Season 3 update, Valve has released another significant update to Counter-Strike 2. This update is the first step in the larger animation system upgrade to AnimGraph 2. Additionally, the update also retouches Overpass, Train and Inferno, adjusting the visibility and overall player legibility around the maps. Gameplay wise, the patch notes refer to an improved damage prediction for shooting while moving which will reduce the cases of false damage. Let’s take a deeper look into this update. Animations Upgrade: Good or Nah? The new update introduces a new animation system to Counter-Strike 2, the AnimGraphmore

After nine years of legendary performances, Oleksandr "s1mple" Kostyliev has officially parted ways with Natus Vincere (NaVi), marking the end of one of the most successful partnerships in Counter-Strike history. The Ukrainian superstar, widely considered the greatest CS:GO player of all time, announced his departure on today, July 28, 2025, in a move that has surprised the entire esports community. The announcement came after NaVi received "several transfer offers" for s1mple following his performance at the BLAST.tv Austin Major 2025more

The International Olympic Committee has officially confirmed that the inaugural Olympic Esports Games will take place in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, in 2027. The announcement comes almost one year after the 142nd IOC Session took place in Paris on July 2024, where members unanimously voted to create this new Olympic competition. IOC Decision and Timeline The IOC made history when it decided to create the Olympic Esports Games during its session held alongside the 2024 Paris Olympics. Initially planned for 2025,more

The Play-In Stage of IEM Cologne has concluded. The next stage of competition will be a battle for a chance to step into the Cathedral of Counter-Strike — the LANXESS Arena. Let’s take a look at what this stage has in store. Teams & Format In addition to the 8 teams qualified via the Play-In Stage, 8 directly-invited teams will compete in the IEM Cologne 2025 Group Stage. These teams will be divided into two groups: Each group competes in a double-elimination bracket. Three teams from each group qualify for the Playoffs. Group winners are seeded directly into the Semifinals.more

The Chess EWC 2025 is on the horizon. The event will officially introduce chess into the esports scene, bridging the gap between a traditional board game and modern PC gaming. The inaugural tournament will be played on Chess.com and will act as the CCT conclusion. It will also bring some of the biggest names in the Chess world to the esports stage. Let's take a look at what the tournament has in store for us. Format and Players The Chessmore

The Chinese squad TYLOO has claimed a spot in Counter-Strike history by defeating the legendary Danish organization Astralis in the FISSURE Playground 1 grand final. Taking place in Belgrade, Serbia, the best-of-five series concluded with a 3-1 in favor of TYLOO, rendering the team their first tier-S tournament championship and marking the first time a Chinese team has won a Counter-Strike tournament of this significance. A Historic Victory Against All Odds The grand final was a showcase of resilience andmore

In the world of top-tier esports, hardware matters. Every fraction of a second, every pixel, and every click can mean the difference between victory and defeat. Professional players in CS2 and VALORANT are some of the most discerning tech enthusiasts, relying on only the best mice, keyboards, and headsets. Drawing on detailed data from their current setups, this article highlights the most popular choices and what makes them stand out among elite competitors. Disclaimer: All peripheral usage statistics and pro player gear data featured in this article were sourced from prosettings.net as of July 2025. Peripheral popularity and player preferences can changemore

Counter-Strike skins market is one of the largest of its kind. With a market cap of $4.2Bn, some of these in-game cosmetics cost tens of thousands of real world currency. Consequently, scams are a major issue for CS skins. As a measure against such scams, Valve has announced Trade Protection: feature to recover stolen inventory items. This feature, currently available for CS only, will be rolled out for other Valve and non-Valve titles in the future. What Is Trade Protection &more

On July 14th, the second season of Counter-Strike 2 Premier came to a close. With that, starting July 15th, players can begin their grind once again with Premier Season 3. But that's not all — the update also introduced balance changes and a new feature aimed at protecting players from item scammers. Let’s dive into what this update brings. Season 3 Update The update can be broadly categorized into two sections: Competitive Updates and Trade Protection. We’ll tackle “Trade Protection”more

The Esports World Cup Fantasy Game allow fans to interact with the world's largest esports tournament. For the first time in the tournament's history (EWC 2025), spectators can actively participate in the competition beyond just watching, creating a more immersive and engaging experience. What is EWC Fantasy? EWC Fantasy is a free-to-play fantasy sports platform that allows fans to create virtual teams using real professional esports players and compete for cash prizes. Developed in partnership with Genius Sports, the platform features a massive $200,000 prizemore

The Esports World Cup has returned for its second year with even more games and prestige on the line. With all the excitement of major titles as League of Legends, Counter-Strike, Dota 2, and VALORANT to name a few participating, as well as well-established organizations such as T1, Sentinels, and Team Liquid in attendance, the EWC has become a collecting centre for esports fans to enjoy all their favorite titles in one extravaganza. Recently, Strafe Esports sat down with Fabianmore