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With the announcement of the PGL Antwerp Major 2022, Valve seems to be going back to its model of 2 CSGO Majors a year. The esports side of CSGO had suffered greatly during the coronavirus pandemic. IEM Katowice was the last LAN event, that too without a crowd and every event since had to be shifted online. The cancellation of Rio 2020 meant there would be no CSGO Majors for 2020.
In 2021, CSGO went into a hybrid state of online+LAN events. The early days saw only online events and revered tournaments such as IEM Katowice and ESL Pro League Season 13 had to be played online. We finally got back to LAN in July, with IEM Cologne taking place in a studio LAN environment.
The first CSGO Majors in 2 years, PGL Stockholm 2021 was a breath of fresh air and was exactly what was missing from the CSGO space. PGL Major Stockholm was a huge success and broke every viewership record there was for CSGO Majors. A concurrent viewership of 2.75 million was a testament to the hype and the popularity that surrounded CSGO and 2021 ended on an unprecedented high for CSGO.
CSGO MAJORS IN 2022
After the reduction in the spread of COVID-19, Valve has decided to conduct 2 CSGO Majors yet again. The first CSGO Major of 2022 will take place in Antwerp, Belgium and will be hosted by the same TO that hosted the last Major – PGL.
PGL Antwerp Major will run from May 9 – May 22. The playoffs will take place from May 19-22 in the Antwerps Sportpaleis, an 18,000 capacity arena.
The prize pool for the first CSGO Major of 2022 is $1 million, reverting to the old prize pool for a major again. PGL Stockholm Major had a prize pool of $2 million since we hadn’t had a Major in 2 years. But Valve will go back to the 2 Major a year formula for 2022 and the prize pool for each will be $1 million.
The second CSGO Major is rumoured to be held in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. The Rio Major will be hosted by ESL, their first CSGO Major since IEM Katowice 2019.
This was reported by dexerto.com back in January. IEM Rio Major 2022 is likely to be held in the latter half of the year and the rumoured dates are October 31-November 13.
WHO WILL PLAY AT CSGO MAJORS IN 2022?
Valve also took an active role in the professional CSGO scene and published an updated rulebook for CSGO Majors. This rulebook is to be referred to by Tournament organisers who will be hosting CSGO Majors.
The Valve CSGO Major rulebook combined the six different regions in the online era into 3 regions. The teams will be able to qualify for the Major by playing in the RMR event which will take place on LAN and gathering enough RMR points. The 3 regions are –
- Europe (Previously Europe and CIS)
- Americas (Previously North America and South America)
- Asia (Previously Asia and Oceania)
More about the CSGO Major Rulebook can be found here.
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