One of the most iconic esports competitions will begin Wednesday with the start of IEM Katowice 2025 in Poland.
Twenty-four teams will begin the 13th playing of the event, competing for a share of the $1.25 million prize pool. The final three days will see the six remaining teams competing in front of a live audience at Spodek Arena.
The team that wins the Feb. 9 Grand Final will also earn a title in the race for the $1 million Intel Grand Slam V.
SCHEDULE AND FORMAT
STAGE 1 (Jan. 29-31)
Format: 16 teams competing in a double-elimination bracket, with all matches being best-of-three. Eight will advance to Stage 2.
Teams: Team Liquid, Furia, Pain Gaming, MiBR, 3DMax, Eternal Fire, Gamer Legion, Complexity, Saw, Big, Flyquest, Astralis, Wildcard Gaming, Virtus.Pro, Imperial FE, Heroic.
STAGE 2 (Feb. 1-4)
Format: The top eight teams from Stage 1 and eight directly qualified teams are split into two groups of eight. They will compete in a double-elimination format, with all matches being best-of-three. The top three teams from each group advance to the playoffs, with the group stage winners advancing to the semifinals and those who finish in second and third place advancing to the quarterfinals.
Direct to Stage 2 Teams: G2 Esports, Team Spirit, The Mongolz, Team Vitality, FaZe Clan, mouz, Natus Vincere, Team Falcons
PLAYOFFS (Feb. 7-9)
Format: Single-elimination format, with the quarterfinals and semifinals being best-of-three. The Grand Final will be best-of-five.
PRIZE POOL
1st: $460,000 (Players: $400,000, Club: $60,000)
2nd: $216,000 (Players: $180,000, Club $36,000)
3rd-4th: $118,000 (Players: $80,000, Club $28,000)
5th-6th: $61,000 (Players: $40,000, Club $21,000)
7th-8th: $23,000 (Players: $24,000, Club $14,000)
9th-10th: $10,000 (Players: $16,000, Club $7,000)
13th-16th: $10,000 (Players: $10,000, Club $0)
17th-20th: $4,500 (Players: $4,500, Club $0)
21st-24th: $2,500 (Players: $2,500, Club $0)
Katowice and IEM are the two championships in 2025 as part of the ESL FACEIT Group’s revamped schedule for the ESL Pro Tour (EPT)
It’s part of an overhauled ecosystem for the CS2 esports circuit. It will also include five Masters-level competitions, the ESL Pro League Seasons 21 and 22, IEM Dallas, IEM Chengdu and an IEM event in April.
–Field Level Media
