ESL has announced more details for Counter-Strike 2‘s (CS2) ESL Pro Tour events in 2027, with eight-team playoffs and more than $11,450,000 in prizes available throughout the year.
ESL has confirmed that it is returning to Kraków in Poland, with Intel Extreme Masters (IEM) Kraków acting as the first ESL Pro Tour event of next year.
Additionally, the tournament organiser has promised that the ESL Pro Tour will visit at least three new cities in 2027, but has not confirmed any additional locations as of yet.
ESL Pro Tour Moves To Eight-Team Playoffs
In a highly-requested move from a lot of CS2 esports fans, ESL is moving away from six-team playoffs and standardising eight-team playoffs for all of its 2027 events.
This move to eight teams will mean that IEM Kraków will no longer feature Upper Bracket and Lower Bracket finals in Stage 2 groups.
And with this move to eight-team playoffs, ESL has promised that all of its tournaments will conclude on a stage with a live audience. In fact, all playoff matches will be played in front of live crowds.
IEM Kraków 2027 Details
IEM Kraków 2027 will take place from January 27 to February 7 in the Polish city.
Both IEM Kraków and IEM Cologne, ESL’s signature events, will feature four Wildcard Invites for Stage 1 of both competitions, but says this feature will be used “rarely”.
A Roster will only be eligible for a Wildcard Invite if it is ranked lower than 12 on the Global VRS list and is meets at least one of the following requirements:
- Roster includes at least three players who individually were members of a top 12 Roster on an Invite VRS List during the preceding six months.
- Roster has placed first or second place in any Tournament of equal or lesser tier than the one issuing the invite, during the preceding six months.
The four Wildcard teams will be joined in Stage 1 by the VRS teams ranked 9th-20th. Meanwhile, Stage 2 will feature the top eight in the VRS.
IEM Kraków 2027 will feature a $1.25m prize pool with the winners taking home $420k plus another $80k Club Reward.
ESL Pro Tour 2027 Calendar
The official calendar for the 2027 CS2 tournaments as part of the ESL Pro Tour is as follows:
- IEM Kraków: January 27 – February 7
- ESL Event #2: March 4 – 14
- ESL Event #3: April 3 – 11
- ESL Event #4: May 1 – 9
- ESL Event #5: August 2 – 15
- ESL Event #6: September 23 – October 3
- ESL Event #7: October 30 – November 7
Do you like these changes to the ESL Pro Tour? Let us know on the Insider Gaming Discord.
And in other CS2 esports news, discover all the storylines ahead of the BLAST Open Rotterdam Playoffs.
