Valve confirms Counter-Strike Majors schedule changes for CS2

Valve is introducing changes to the schedule of its Counter-Strike 2 Majors, which will come into effect in 2025.

The developer is officially open to proposals for the Counter-Strike 2 Majors in 2025 and 2026, according to HLTV.org, with two events due to be held each year.

In both years, the Majors will take place right before the summer and the winter breaks, making them the final tournaments of the season. The Majors will be held between June 9-22 and December 1-14 in 2025, and between June 8-21 and November 30-December 13 in 2026.

This is a change that many fans had been asking for and that puts the Majors as the de facto crowning moment of the tournament season. With the Majors being followed by a period of busy transfer activity in the scene, teams will have a month to reshuffle their rosters and carefully plan their future after a Major. This hasn’t always been the case because of other important tournaments coming shortly after Majors.

João Ferreira/PGL

PGL will host the first CS2 Major, in Copenhagen

For the 2025 and 2026 Majors, Valve will continue to prioritize proposals of events that are held in a time zone that is “convenient for a significant proportion of CS2 customers”. The developer has identified two prime time slots, 4pm CET (7am PT) and 9pm CET (12pm PT).

So far, only one CS2 Major has been announced. It will be organized by PGL in Copenhagen between March 17-31, right in the middle of the tournament season. A second Major is expected later in 2024.

An exact release date for Counter-Strike 2 has not yet been announced, though Valve has stated that the game has a Summer 2023 release window. The limited-test beta, which went live in March, beta has given players the opportunity to test several maps, including Dust2, Nuke and Overpass.