Today, we’re rolling out key updates for the ESL Pro Tour events already planned for 2027, as well as announcing Additional Information relative to our first event of the year, Intel® Extreme Masters Kraków 2027. Key changes include:
More Than $11,450,000 Up For Grabs In 2027
8 Teams In The Playoffs For All 2027 Events
All Tournaments Conclude On A Stage With An Audience
At Least 3 New Cities By End Of 2027
IEM Kraków 2027 Confirmed
2027 Updates
More Than $11,450,000 Up For Grabs In 2027
2027 will continue the financial commitment ESL has already made towards Teams and Players, which in 2027 will see an annual allocation of $11,450,000. This allocation consists of the following:
- Combined Total Winnings per event distributed based on performance and split into Prize Money and Club Reward.
- Annual Club Incentive, on the line for the Top 16 ranked teams, with teams being eligible by participating in the Ecosystem Agreement.
- ESL Grand Slam, $1,000,000 on the line for the first team to win three ESL Pro Tour Masters tournaments and one EPT Championship tournament, inside a span of ten events.
With the possibility of the ESL Grand Slam being twice throughout the year, the total commitment could go as high as $12,450,000.
8 Teams In The Playoffs
Starting with IEM Kraków, all of our 2027 events will feature 8 teams in the playoffs. In the case of IEM Kraków, this means the previous Upper Bracket and Lower Bracket finals in Stage 2 groups will no longer be played. Additionally, the Total Winnings per event will also be updated to reflect the new standings an event will produce.
All Tournaments Conclude On A Stage With An Audience
In line with the change to feature 8 teams in the playoffs for all of our events in 2027, all of these tournaments will conclude on a stage with a live audience. Counter-Strike is at its best when experienced live in-person, not in a studio without an audience.
At Least 3 New Cities By The End Of 2027
While we enjoy our mainstay events, where legacy is manifested and the bespoke silverware is hoisted, we’re always on the lookout for where to take some of our events to next.
As such, we are taking ESL Pro Tour events to a minimum of 3 new cities by the end of 2027, which furthermore will span across three different continents.
Wildcard Invites For Championship Events
Debuting at IEM Kraków, we will be adding 4 Wildcard invites for Stage 1 at our two annual Championship events (IEM Kraków & IEM Cologne). While we expect we’re rarely going to use these invites, the opportunity to have the option is something we are interested in.
This requirement for Wildcard Invites are dictated by the Rules for Ranked Tournaments:
3.6.3 A Roster shall only be eligible for a Wildcard Invite if it is ranked lower than 12 on the Global VRS list and it fulfills at least one of the following requirements as of the Invitation Date:
- a) It includes at least 3 players who individually were members of a top 12 Roster on an Invite VRS List at any time during the preceding 6 months.
- b) It has placed first or second place in any Tournament, of equal or lesser tier than the one issuing the invite, during the preceding 6 months.
Our plan for these Wildcard Invites are to only issue them to teams with newly formed lineups, or teams who overhauled their core roster in such a way it resulted in a rank reset. As such we will only factor in criteria a), and not consider b) from above.
As used in other traditional sports, we believe having the ability to extend a discretionary invite to teams who did not qualify through standard ranking methods, allows for some flexibility in the event that a team had undergone changes or newly formed ahead of the invitation date.
In the event that we end up not using these Wildcard Invites, then they will simply go back to the Global VRS Invite pool for the event.
ESL Pro League Calendar Footprint Reduction
ESL Pro League in 2027 will follow in the format and structure of the upcoming ESL Pro League Season 24. This change also reduces the overall calendar footprint the event takes.
ESL Pro League Season 25
Previous: Feb 25 - Mar 14, 2027
New: Mar 4 - Mar 14, 2027
ESL Pro League Season 26
Previous: Sep 16 - Oct 3, 2027
New: Sep 23 - Oct 3, 2027
This results in 7 days less between the previous announcement dates and the new set of dates, per event. Overall this reduces our annual calendar footprint by 14 days for 2027.
Playoffs Viewership Included In Annual Club Incentive
For 2027, we are adjusting the mechanism behind the Annual Club Incentive. Previously teams would have the average concurrent viewership based on the highest value of a team in the Group Stage, or either Stage 1 or Stage 2, only the highest and only one value per team is included.
Going forward, we’ll be including the playoffs viewership into the equation, meaning that the combined average concurrent viewership for the entire tournament will be what determines the points distribution.
IEM Kraków 2027 Additional Information
Arrival date: January 25, 2027
Media date: January 26, 2027
Tournament dates: January 27 - February 7, 2027
Departure date: February 7, 2027
Location: Kraków, Poland
Stage 1 Teams
1. Global VRS Invite (9th-20th) | 9. Global VRS Invite (9th-20th) |
2. Global VRS Invite (9th-20th) | 10. Global VRS Invite (9th-20th) |
3. Global VRS Invite (9th-20th) | 11. Global VRS Invite (9th-20th) |
4. Global VRS Invite (9th-20th) | 12. Global VRS Invite (9th-20th) |
5. Global VRS Invite (9th-20th) | 13. Wildcard Invite |
6. Global VRS Invite (9th-20th) | 14. Wildcard Invite |
7. Global VRS Invite (9th-20th) | 15. Wildcard Invite |
8. Global VRS Invite (9th-20th) | 16. Wildcard Invite |
Stage 2 Teams
1. Global VRS Invite (1st-8th) | 5. Global VRS Invite (1st-8th) |
2. Global VRS Invite (1st-8th) | 6. Global VRS Invite (1st-8th) |
3. Global VRS Invite (1st-8th) | 7. Global VRS Invite (1st-8th) |
4. Global VRS Invite (1st-8th) | 8. Global VRS Invite (1st-8th) |
Total Winnings: $1,250,000
Prize Money | Club Reward | |
|---|---|---|
1. | $420,000 | $80,000 |
2. | $200,000 | $40,000 |
3. | $100,000 | $30,000 |
4. | $50,000 | $20,000 |
5-8. | $25,000 | $15,000 |
9-12. | $15,000 | $5,000 |
13-16,. | $10,000 | - |
17-20. | $5,000 | - |
21-24. | $2,500 | - |
Tournament environment: All stages of the tournament will be played in-person on LAN.
VRS publication for invites: Invites will follow the first available monthly VRS publication of January 2027.
VRS publication for seeding: Seeding will follow the first available monthly VRS publication of January 2027.
Invite Exceptions: Exceptions to invitations will apply if a player is banned by ESL, FACEIT or ESIC.
2027 Calendar Update
With the IEM Kraków now officially on the calendar and reduction in dates for each ESL Pro League season, the ESL Pro Tour calendar for Counter-Strike in 2027 now looks as follows.
