CS2 Esports 2025: S-Tier Events & Majors Calendar

If you follow Counter-Strike for the storylines (and, let’s be honest, the skin flexes), 2025 is loaded. We’ve got two Valve-sponsored Majors, the return of arena tentpoles like Katowice and Cologne, and a fat mid-summer stop in Riyadh for Esports World Cup. Below is the calendar, the formats, and why each event matters; written like a fan, because we are.

Table of Contents

TL;DR

Majors (2x in 2025):
BLAST.tv Austin Major — June 3–22, Austin, USA. Winner: Team Vitality.
StarLadder Budapest Major — Nov 24–Dec 14, Budapest, Hungary.
Arena pillars: IEM Katowice (Jan–Feb), IEM Melbourne (Apr), IEM Dallas (May), IEM Cologne (late Jul–Aug).
Summer spectacle: Esports World Cup (Riyadh), Aug 20–24.

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2025 S-Tier Calendar (by date)

Dates (2025)	Event	City / Venue	Prize	Why it matters
Jan 29 – Feb 9	IEM Katowice	Katowice, Poland	$1,000,000	The season “soft reset” — stacked invites, a reality check for new rosters after the break.
Mar 7 – 16	ESL Pro League S21	Stockholm, Sweden	$1,000,000	First big league sprint of spring; great read on team form before the Major cycle heats up.
Mar 19 – 30	BLAST Open Spring	Lisbon, Portugal (MEO Arena)	$400,000	BLAST’s seasonal stop — polished production, top teams tuning systems.
Apr 21 – 27	IEM Melbourne	Melbourne, Australia	$1,000,000	Rare APAC arena event; jet-lag meta plus huge local crowd.
May 10 – 18	PGL Astana	Astana, Kazakhstan	$— (S-Tier Valve Tier 1)	New CIS-region showcase; prep window right before the U.S. Major.
May 19 – 25	IEM Dallas	Dallas, USA (DreamHack)	$1,000,000	North America’s biggest non-Major fixture — momentum setter before Austin.
Jun 3 – 22	BLAST.tv Austin Major	Austin, USA (Moody Center)	$1,250,000	Major #1 of 2025 32-team format debut, Vitality crowned champions.
Jul 26 – Aug 3	IEM Cologne	Cologne, Germany	$1,250,000	“The Cathedral of Counter-Strike.” Second only to Majors in prestige.
Aug 20 – 24	Esports World Cup (CS2)	Riyadh, Saudi Arabia	$1,250,000 (CS2)	Invitational super-event inside EWC festival; brutal five-day gauntlet.
Sep 27 – Oct 12	ESL Pro League S22	Stockholm, Sweden	$1,000,000	Autumn form check; seeds and morale before the year’s second Major.
Nov 24 – Dec 14	StarLadder Budapest Major	Budapest, Hungary (MVM Dome playoffs)	$1,250,000	Major #2 of 2025 final word on the season.

💡 Pro tip: DaddySkins runs special case drops during Majors. Keep an eye on DaddySkins Cases while watching the playoffs.

Note: BLAST also ran seasonal “Bounty/Open/Rivals” stops around these dates; we listed the flagship S-Tier LANs most fans track week-to-week.

Majors: What changed in 2025 (and why it felt different)

Bigger field. Valve expanded Majors to 32 teams across four stages (Stage 1, Stage 2, Stage 3, Playoffs), replacing the old 24-team, three-stage model. That added more Swiss play and more upset potential.
Licensing/ops clarity. Valve’s 2025 rulebook set stricter timelines and requirements for organizers (think: invites, announcements, rankings). Result: fewer last-minute format surprises.

Austin snapshot

Austin (June) was the first Major under the 32-team format and it delivered: a sold-out Moody Center finals weekend and Vitality lifting the trophy; a statement win heading into Cologne.

Event-by-Event Notes (quick scout)

Katowice (Jan–Feb): Early season tier list gets rewritten here. If a roster move is legit, Kato exposes it.
Dallas (May): The “DreamHack atmosphere” + NA crowds make this a momentum factory right before Austin.
Cologne (late Jul–Aug): Teams talk about winning Cologne like a mini-Major — it’s that meaningful.
EWC Riyadh (Aug): Short, star-packed invitational inside a giant multi-game festival; stamina and prep matter.
Budapest Major (Nov–Dec): New host, classic pressure. Expect stacked European crowds and late-year meta peaks.

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How to watch (and not miss big storylines)

Follow schedules/format pages on Liquipedia/HLTV — they update brackets, formats, and maps in near-real time.

Anchor weekends: Cologne playoff weekend (Aug 2–3), EWC finals (Aug 24), Budapest Major playoffs (Dec 12–14).

For players: turn hype into motivation

Big events are when we all want to queue more, tweak binds, and, yes, rock a cleaner loadout. If you’re grinding after a wild series at Cologne or the Budapest playoff weekend:

Rotate a themed loadout for each arena stop; it keeps the game fresh (and your clips drippy).
Run scrim nights with friends on the current Major map pool so your muscle memory matches what you’re watching.

A friendly plug for our readers

If you like following S-Tier CS2, you’ll love rolling into your next FACEIT stack with a glow-up:

Open a few featured cases on DaddySkins before matchday; set a small budget, have fun, and screenshot the pulls for the group chat.
Want blog deep-dives and settings guides? Tap daddyskins.com/blog — we publish practical, readable breakdowns for CS2 players at every level.

Sources & verification

Event pages and formats: Liquipedia entries for Katowice, Cologne, Austin Major, Budapest Major, IEM Dallas/Melbourne, PGL Astana, EWC CS2.
Dates/overview: HLTV event hubs for Cologne, EPL S21/S22; ESL/BLAST official calendars; Esports Insider for Dallas schedule and Valve rulebook coverage; Statesman for Austin attendance/economic context.