Counter-Strike 2
Counter-Strike 2: its teams, tournaments, transfers and the business around them.
BetBoom field FL4MUS and zorte as stand-ins at three LAN events
BetBoom announced on March 23 that FL4MUS and zorte replace d1Ledez and ArtFr0st at three tournaments, two weeks before the Cologne Major invitation cut-off.
CoachesFaZe part ways with coach NEO after nearly three years
FaZe have ended their work with head coach NEO and put analyst GruBy in charge for now. The change comes two days before a tournament that counts toward its Major invite.
TransfersG2 and Liquid swap malbsMd and NertZ three weeks before the Major cut-off
G2 and Liquid traded one player each on March 13. For Liquid the swap changes the region it is ranked in, with Major invitations due on April 6.
AcademiesVirtus.pro rebuild their CS2 team around two VP.Prodigy players
Virtus.pro promoted AquaRS and F0R3VER from its academy team VP.Prodigy on March 12, completing a Counter-Strike 2 roster now led in game by mir.
RostersENCE bench their entire CS2 roster and turn back to Finnish talent
ENCE moved its five Counter-Strike 2 players and their coach to the bench on March 11 and said the next team will be built around Finnish players.
TechnologyBLAST Premier's 2026 CS2 stations: 610Hz monitors and RTX 5090 PCs
ASUS says its ROG brand will supply the monitors, PCs, keyboards and mice of all six BLAST Premier Counter-Strike 2 events in 2026, after three events at the end of 2025.
Prize MoneyPGL pledges US$22 million to Counter-Strike teams for 2027 and 2028
PGL will pay Counter-Strike teams at least US$11 million a year in 2027 and 2028, HLTV reported on March 9: prize money, an invitation reward and a viewership pool.
RevenueIEM Krakow 2026 draws over 38,000 fans in its first year out of Katowice
ESL FACEIT Group counts more than 38,000 attendees from over 50 countries at the first IEM Krakow, with a larger arena, sold-out final days and paid signing sessions.
IntegrityValve's conflict-of-interest rules for CS2 teams and organizers
How Valve's Counter-Strike 2 rules keep the people who run tournaments apart from the teams that play them: business ties, shared owners, payments, sponsors and disclosure.
RankingsVitality overtake FURIA in Valve's March 2026 regional standings
Valve's standings of March 2, 2026 put Vitality first with 2029 points, 136 ahead of FURIA. The update sends invitations to four events and is the last but one before the Cologne Major.
TournamentsBLAST sets a six-event CS2 circuit for 2027 with an Open in Rio
BLAST has published its 2027 Counter-Strike calendar: six events, a Bounty cut from 32 teams to 16 and played fully on LAN, and a first city, Rio de Janeiro.
LeaguesESL Pro League Season 23 opens with two online stages before Stockholm
ESL Pro League Season 23 starts on March 1 with 24 teams, two online Swiss stages and an eight-team final weekend in Stockholm, for a pool of US$1,000,000.
SponsorshipsZOWIE becomes the monitor of IEM and ESL Pro League through 2027
ESL FACEIT Group has renewed and widened its deal with ZOWIE, now exclusive monitor supplier of every IEM event and four ESL Pro League seasons in 2026 and 2027.
TournamentsVitality sweep PARIVISION to win PGL Cluj-Napoca 2026
Vitality beat PARIVISION 3-0 in the PGL Cluj-Napoca final on February 22, 2026, closing a week of six wins in six series and an 11th title with ropz.
AcademiesSpirit Academy unveil a new 2026 lineup under coach S0tF1k
Team Spirit's Counter-Strike academy starts 2026 with a new five under coach S0tF1k, rebuilt after three of its former players moved to other teams in 2025.
IntegrityValve bars BC.Game from BC Game Masters over conflict of interest
BC.Game will not play BC Game Masters, a ranked LAN in Bucharest. Valve told HLTV it treats a team's title sponsor and its owner alike, and neither may sponsor the event.
National TeamsCounter-Strike 2 joins the Esports Nations Cup with 24 national teams
The Esports World Cup Foundation has added Counter-Strike 2 to its national team event in Riyadh: 24 nations in November, 96 national qualifiers in July and a new ranking.
RankingsIEM Krakow reshuffles the Valve standings: G2, FUT and Astralis climb
HLTV's count after IEM Krakow puts G2 tenth, FUT 16th and Astralis 11th in the Valve Regional Standings, while HEROIC, Passion UA and GamerLegion lost ground before key deadlines.