ESL’s Intel Extreme Masters (IEM) is coming to Melbourne, Australia for the first time in 2025, pitting 16 of the world’s top CS2 teams against each other for its $1m (~£820,000) prize pool.
The event will take place from April 21st to 27th, with live arena matches scheduled from April 25th to 27th.
The participating teams will be decided based on the upcoming Valve Regional Standings in February 2025. Teams will through a group stage, which will follow a double-elimination format, with the top six competitors advancing to the Rod Laver Arena for the playoffs.
Each series will be played in a best-of-three (BO3) format, except the Grand Final, which will be a best-of-five (BO5) series.
“We’re extremely excited to have the world’s best gamers here to showcase their skills at one of the biggest esports tournaments ever seen on Australian shores,” said the country’s Minister for Tourism, Sport and Major Events. Steve Dimopoulos.
“There will be an incredible atmosphere in Melbourne when competitors and fans flock here from around the world – and it’ll be a major boost for our economy to have thousands of people filling hotel rooms and visiting our world-class cafes and restaurants.”
IEM Melbourne 2025 invites will be given out based on Valve’s global and regional rankings. As a result, the event will offer participation to the top 10 global VRS teams as well as the top two organisations from Europe, Americas and Asia’s VRS standings.
Tickets for the event will go live on January 23rd at 3 am GMT and fans will be able to catch the action live on FACEIT Watch or ESL Counter-Strike’s Twitch and YouTube channels.
Alongside IEM Melbourne 2025, ESL is hosting IEM events in Dallas, Cologne, Katowice and Chengdu this year. The first IEM event of 2025 will be IEM Katowice, set to take place on January 29th.