In previous years, Counter-Strike professional scene had very few tournament organisers that were occupying large portion of the calendar. We had ESL with its ESL Pro League and ESL One events, and we had BLAST Premier circuit. Aside from Majors, basically no other tournament organizers were hosting big Counter-Strike events.

The situation changes in 2025. After Valve updated its stance on the franchise leagues, two more tournament organizers announced their new big events. While new tournaments from PGL might not surprise you, as PGL was hosting Major tournaments, including the latest PGL Major Copenhagen, there is one more company that will bring their events next year.

We’re talking about Starladder. This company hosted CS:GO tournaments since the game inception. However, they have been on the sidelines for the last four years. Their last major events are dated back to 2019. Now, they announced four big events in 2025 and 2026.

This is definitely a good sign, as more competition brings better product for the fans of the game. StarLadder is a classic brand to the Counter-Strike scene, so it is great to see it back.

Main image: alphacoders

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