The ESL Pro Tour combines several ESL tournaments into a dedicated tournament series that also includes various levels of competition, including the EPT Championship, EPT Masters, and EPT Challenger. This gives aspiring, semi-professional and professional Counter-Strike players around the world a clear and consistent way to prove themselves and develop their skills. The tournament series also provides fans with a comprehensible structure that immerses them in the world of Counter-Strike.

The ESL Pro Tour schedule for Counter-Strike 2024.

For 2024, there will be some changes to the EPT program to align the ecosystem with both the current state of the industry and EFG's long-term goals.

The dates and locations of some tournaments have already been announced; more details on the remaining tournaments will be announced at a later date.

ESL Pro Tour - Championship

The EPT Championships are the pinnacle events in the Counter-Strike ecosystem. Featuring the top 24 teams from around the world and a total prize pool of $1 million per event, this is where heroes are crowned and history is made.

• Intel® Extreme Masters (IEM) Katowice 2024
  • January 31 - February 11 / Katowice, Poland

• The final three days will take place live at the legendary Spodek Arena, the Hall of Heroes , for the 12th time in history.
• Tickets will go on sale on September 26, 2023 at 3pm CEST.
• During the three live tournament days, the event will be accompanied by the e-sports exhibition, IEM Expo, at the International Convention Center (MCK) in Katowice. Here fans can discover everything about e-sports and gaming on 8,000 square meters and, for example, try out the latest gaming hardware. More information is yet to be announced.

• IEM Cologne 2024
  • August 7 to 18 / Cologne
  • The last three days will take place for the eighth time live at the LANXESS Arena in Cologne.
  • Ticket sales will start on September 28, 2023 at 3 p.m. CEST.

ESL Pro Tour - Masters

The EPT Masters are the central component of the Counter-Strike ecosystem. Here, both up-and-coming and top players compete against each other worldwide to prove themselves on the stages of this world and ultimately qualify for the EPT Championship. IEM tournaments feature 16 teams competing for a share of the $250,000 prize pool per event; ESL Pro League (EPL) seasons feature 32 teams and a $750,000 prize pool per season.

• IEM China 2024:
  • April 8-14 / Location to be announced.
  • The last three days will be played in front of a live audience.
  • Ticket information to be announced.
  • Details on qualifiers in other regions will be announced at a later date - China qualifiers will be held later this year:
    • Open Qualifier #1: October 24-25, 2023.
    • Open Qualifier #2: October 26-27, 2023
    • Closed Qualification: November 3-4, 2023

• ESL Pro League Season 19:
  • April 23 to May 12 / St. Julian's, Malta.
  • The final three days will take place in front of a live audience at the InterContinental Malta.
  • More details about the tickets are yet to be announced.

• IEM Dallas 2024:
  • May 27-June 2 / Dallas, Texas, USA.
  • The final three days of the tournament will be played live at the three-day, gaming lifestyle festival DreamHack Dallas 2024 at the Kay Bailey Hutchison Convention Center.
  • More information on tickets is yet to be announced.

• ESL Pro League Season 20:
  • September 3-22 / St. Julian's, Malta.
  • The final three days of the tournament will take place live at the InterContinental Malta.
  • More information on tickets to be announced.

• IEM Fall 2024:
  • October 7-13 / Location to be announced.
  • The final three days will be played in front of a live audience.
  • Ticket information to be announced.

EPL Season 19 and Season 20 will each run for three weeks instead of five. More details on how this adjustment will affect the league's format will be announced shortly before the start of EPL Season 19.

ESL Pro Tour - Challenger

The EPT Challenger tournaments are regional or international tournaments where the stars of tomorrow are born. Here, aspiring teams can prove their skills to eventually advance to the next level - the EPT Masters.

• ESL Challenger: These three-day tournaments take place at DreamHack festivals around the world and give eight teams the opportunity to showcase their skills live on stage. They compete for a share of the total prize pool of $100,000 per event.
  • ESL Challenger #56: April 26-28 / location to be announced.
  • ESL Challenger #57: June 14-16 / Europe; exact location to be announced.
  • ESL Challenger Atlanta: October 4-6 / DreamHack Atlanta 2024 at the Georgia World Congress Center in Atlanta, Georgia, USA.
  • ESL Challenger #59: November 22-24 / Europe; exact location to be announced.

• ESL Challenger League: This league takes place online only and goes on for a longer period of time. 80 teams have the opportunity here to continuously compete with other teams from their region, to improve and expand their skills.
  • ESL Challenger League Season 47: February - June / Online.
    • Europe
    • North America
    • South America
    • Asia
    • Australia & New Zealand
  • ESL Challenger League Season 48: July - November / Online.
    • Europe
    • North America
    • South America
    • Asia
    • Australia & New Zealand

Similar to the ESL Pro League, the ESL Challenger League (ECL) will also be adjusted from 2024. Instead of four seasons a year, the online league will continue with two seasons in the new year. These two Seasons will have a more flexible schedule and run over a longer period of time than before to minimize overlaps with other ESL Pro Tour tournaments - including the ESL Pro League - and provide teams competing in the ESL Challenger League with sufficient breaks and recovery time.

In addition, South American teams that have competed against European, North American and Asian teams in previous Seasons will now be able to compete in regional online tournaments starting in Season 47. In addition, the ECL 2024 will also be available in Australia and New Zealand. On the one hand, this will give teams more opportunities to prove themselves and make the leap to the next level of competition, and on the other hand, it will also provide a solid base for aspiring semi-professional and professional teams in the regions. More information on the format and prize money per region will be announced later.

Grassroots Tournaments

New and aspiring Counter-Strike players and teams from specific regions can compete, develop their skills, and advance through the ESEA League offered on the FACEIT platform. Depending on the player's region, these online Grassroots tournaments offer multiple levels of competition - Open, Intermediate, Main and Advanced - from where teams eventually advance to the ESL Challenger League.

"It's that time again: we invite fans, teams, players and partners to join us for an eventful 2024 Counter-Strike year," said Shaun Clark, Senior Director of Game Ecosystems - Counter-Strike. "We are entering an exciting new phase in the history of Counter-Strike, and as we continue to optimize our ecosystem to better reach players at every level and from around the world, the 2024 ESL Pro Tour program will also be a new milestone for us. We look forward to embarking on this journey with all of you."

More information about the ESL Pro Tour for Counter-Strike is available on the official website.