PGL announced the PGL Astana 2026
PGL has officially announced PGL Astana 2026, a new Tier 1 Counter-Strike 2 tournament that will take place from May 7 to 18, 2026, in Astana, Kazakhstan . The organizers have announced a significant increase in the prize pool to $1,600,000, which is $350,000 more than previous events. This amount is the second largest prize pool in CS2 history, second only to the Major in Stockholm with $2,000,000.
The tournament will bring together 16 elite teams, 12 of which will receive direct invitations based on the global Valve Regional Standings (VRS) ranking as of March 2, 2026, with four additional spots to be decided through regional qualifiers. The final three days of competition will take place at Barys Arena, located in the heart of the Kazakh capital, where a spectacular atmosphere is expected. Tickets for the event will go on sale soon.
Qualification details
Regional qualifiers will be held online:
Europe and North America/South America:
Open qualifiers: February 14–17, 2026. Each region will hold two open qualifying tournaments, with the top two teams from each (a total of four teams per region) advancing.
Closed Qualifiers: February 26–March 1, 2026. Format: Double Elimination, all matches in Best of 3 (BO3) format, Grand Final in Best of 5 (BO5) format. Four additional teams will be invited to the closed qualifiers based on VRS, for a total of eight teams per region.
Asia (including Oceania, West Asia, and East Asia):
Each subregion (Oceania, West Asia, East Asia) will have 2 invitations through VRS and one open qualifier (top 2 advance), forming 4 teams per subregion.
Closed qualifiers for each subregion will be held in a Double Elimination, BO3 format, with one team from each subregion qualifying for the Asian Finals.
Asian Finals: The three subregion winners will be seeded according to VRS. The second and third teams will face off in a BO3 match, and the winner of that match will face the first team in a BO5 match to determine the participant in the main stage.
Invitation system
Invitations to the main stage in Astana will be sent out on March 2, 2026, based on the global VRS. The seeding for the tournament will be based on the rankings as of April 6, 2026. Teams that are unable to accept the invitation due to lack of visas or other circumstances will be replaced by the next team on the VRS list. There is also a requirement that at least three players from the roster remain from the time the invitations are announced, otherwise the team may lose its place.
Prize pool
The total prize pool is $1,600,000, distributed as follows:
1st place: $512,000 ($256,000 for players, $256,000 for the club)
2nd place: $240,000 ($120,000 for players, $120,000 for the club)
3rd place: $192,000 ($96,000 for players, $96,000 for the club)
4th place: $112,000 ($56,000 for players, $56,000 for the club)
5th–8th places: $80,000 ($40,000 for players, $40,000 for the club)9th–11th places: $40,000 ($20,000 for players, $20,000 for the club)
12th–14th places: $24,000 ($12,000 for players, $12,000 for the club)
15th–16th places: $16,000 ($8,000 for players, $8,000 for the club)
Fair play rules
PGL emphasizes adherence to the principles of Fair Play: teams and players must not have financial interests in their opponents, and organizers and staff cannot have business relationships with participants without Valve's written consent. In case of violations (e.g., use of cheats, manipulation of results, or ignoring deadlines), teams will be disqualified.
