Chinese tournament organizer Perfect World has revealed it will bring a Counter-Strike Major to Asia for the first time, with the Shanghai Major locked in and taking place at the end of 2024.
Perfect World confirmed CS2’s pinnacle event will make its way to Shanghai, China next year via X, formerly Twitter on Nov. 12. Never before has a Major been held in China or the Asia-Pacific region as a whole, but after rumors of a Chinese-bound Major arose in July, it seemed like only a matter of time.
The Shanghai Major was announced just prior to the start of the CS2 Asia Championships grand final, which saw FaZe Clan take on MOUZ after both won their semifinals earlier today. It is believed the Major will take place in mid-December, with the RMR qualification system beginning at the end of October. Perfect World has not revealed concrete dates for the Major just yet.
It was initially reported in August that Perfect World was in the running for the second Major of 2023 alongside organizer BLAST, but CS2’s launch in Q3 meant the tournament as a whole was canned. 2024 will now see the return of the dual-cycle Major format with the PGL Copenhagen Major kicking off in mid-March next year.
Perfect World, which publishes versions of the game in China, has a storied history in hosting esports tournaments of varying scale in the Chinese region, with their Counter-Strike resume including the CS Asia Championships and the Legend Series dating back to 2017—among a myriad of other events.
Notably, esports fans may recognize the publisher and organizer from Dota 2, with Perfect World and an assortment of tournaments spanning nearly a decade including the Dota Shanghai Major in 2016 and the Asia Championships and the Supermajor in 2018. Perfect World also organized the Chinese Dota Pro Circuit, running both Division One and Two since 2021.
It was believed that unfavorable timezones spelled doom for the chance of a CS2 Major in the APAC region—at least, according to Valve’s own Major handbook—but in every other way, an Asian Major would be incredibly beneficial for CS2 as a whole. Interest in the region has already been boosted by the return to offline tournaments this week as well as the launch of CS2.
Having an event as prestigious as a Major take place on local shores will only further enhance the effects of the game’s launch in China and the surrounding areas. More details surrounding the Shanghai Major will be revealed in the coming months.
