Valve are officially changing when Majors take place in CS2

It actually makes a lot of sense.

A packed Sportpaleis arena during the PGL Antwerp CS:GO Major
Image by Joao Ferreira via PGL

Valve is shaking up Counter-Strike 2 Majors, changing the dates for the ones in 2025 and 2026. At the same time, they underlined they’re open to proposals from tournament organizers to host these events.

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In both of the mentioned years, Majors will take place in different periods, before summer and winter breaks, according to HLTV. The events will be held on June 9-22 and Dec. 1-14 in 2024, while 2026 will see Majors on June 8-21 and Nov. 30 – Dec. 13

This is a vital change for the CS2 esports ecosystem since it will allow players to rest after arguably the most demanding and important competition of the season. On top of that, organizations that participate in CS are known for making roster changes after the Majors based on the results, so from their standpoint, there couldn’t be a better time for Valve-sponsored events.

Valve also announced it’s open to proposals for hosting the tournaments. Potential organizers must meet a number of criteria, though. It includes creating the event in regions where they had previously met success with other tournaments and hosting the Majors in time zones convenient for the large part of the CS community (4 pm and 9 pm CEST).

The BLAST Paris Major stadium in black and white.
Paris BLAST.tv Major was the last one hosted in CS:GO. Photo by Michal Konkol via BLAST

More details about these Majors should be released next year when CS2 will be officially launched and the first Major in the game will have already taken place. It’s scheduled for next March, with PGL responsible for hosting it in Copenhagen, Denmark.

Related: Smooya claims one change to CS2 would make the game ‘near perfect’

As it stands, the community is still waiting for the official CS2 release. It was originally announced for summer this year, though, with no official updates since the initial announcement, the players fear it might be delayed.

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Image of Mateusz Miter
Mateusz Miter
Freelance Writer at Dot Esports. Mateusz previously worked for numerous outlets and gaming-adjacent companies, including ESL. League of Legends or CS:GO? He loves them both. In fact, he wonders which game he loves more every day. He wanted to go pro years ago, but somewhere along the way decided journalism was the more sensible option—and he was right.