IEM Beijing 2026: $1.25M CS2 LAN Event Nov. 2-8

IEM Beijing 2026 will take place Nov. 2-8 in Beijing. The Intel Extreme Masters event will feature 16 Counter-Strike 2 teams competing on LAN for a total of $1.25 million in prize money and club rewards. ESL classifies the tournament as a tier-S stop on the ESL Pro Tour.

The Group Stage begins Nov. 2. Teams will be split into two eight-team double-elimination groups, with each Group Stage match played as a best-of-three. The top three teams from each group will advance to a six-team single-elimination playoff bracket. Playoffs run Nov. 6-8. Quarterfinals, semifinals and the third-place match will be best-of-three, and the Grand Final on Nov. 8 will be a best-of-five.

ESL has allocated $125,000 in prize money and $235,000 in club rewards for the champion. The runner-up will receive $50,000 in prize money and $160,000 in club rewards. Those amounts are included in the announced $1.25 million total and will count toward the Annual Club Incentive that affects standings across the ESL Pro Tour season.

Slot allocation will rely on Valve Regional Standings. Ten teams are expected to earn Global VRS invites. Additional direct slots will go to leading teams from North America, South America and Asia. The remaining places will be decided through Global and Asian Closed Qualifiers, combining ranking-based invitations and qualification routes.

This will be the first LAN IEM event in Beijing since 2019. The 2019 Beijing event peaked at about 165,000 live viewers during a match between Astralis and 100 Thieves. A 2020 Beijing-branded edition was held online because of the pandemic and focused on regional divisions. IEM Chengdu 2025 reached a peak of 775,000 viewers during a FURIA vs Team Vitality match.

The Grand Final is scheduled for Nov. 8. ESL expects a mix of invited teams and qualifier winners to fill the 16-team field, and the event will bring international CS2 competition to a live audience in Beijing in early November.