IEM Cologne Major 2026 announced

First Counter-Strike 2 Major in 2026 will be held in Cologne, Germany – the tournament will be called IEM Cologne Major 2026. The event will be held by ESL. The tournament operator officially announced this via its social media accounts.

The competition will take place from July 2 to 21 next year with the participation of 32 of the strongest teams in the world, which will be invited to the tournament directly based on Valve's ranking. Invites will be issued in April 2026. The total prize pool of the competition will be $1.25 million. The event format will remain the same – three stages and a playoff. The final stage of the tournament will play out at the LANXESS arena from July 18 to 21.

Earlier, the Counter-Strike 2 developers updated the regulations for the upcoming StarLadder Major in Budapest, including information on the distribution of invites by region based on the results of the previous BLAST.tv Austin Major 2025.

Origin: pro.eslgaming.com