FISSURE Playground 1 teams revealed as participants opt out

FISSURE has revealed the 16 teams that will compete at the FISSURE Playground #1 Counter-Strike 2 (CS2) tournament.

Of the teams invited by the Serbian event organiser, GamerLegion and 3DMAX are the only ones that were featured in the top 10 of the Valve Regional Standings (VRS) from May 25th, 2025.

The event will take place from July 15th to 20th, 2025, at the Sava Center in Belgrade, and is the first LAN event following the conclusion of the BLAST.tv Austin Major.

Teams will compete in a Group Stage and Playoffs for a chance to win the lion’s share of a $1m (~£729,277) prize pool. Moreover, valuable VRS points are up for grabs that help determine invite distribution for future CS2 events.

The likes of Austin Major winners Team Vitality, Team Falcons, Team Spirit and FaZe Clan will miss out on FISSURE Playground #1. This is likely due to the event’s proximity to Intel Extreme Masters (IEM) Cologne, which begins on July 23rd, three days after FISSURE’s inaugural CS2 tournament concludes.

Before the event organiser revealed the teams competing, Ukrainian organisation B8 Esports also publicly announced it wouldn’t participate in the tournament following survey feedback.

The 16 teams competing in the event can be found below, and where selected via its VRS rank from May 25th.

The teams will be split into four groups of four and will compete using a double-elimination GSL format. Each Group Stage match will be a best-of-three series.

The top two teams from each group will advance to the Playoffs, featuring a single-elimination bracket and best-of-three matches for the quarter and semi-finals. For the Grand Final, a best-of-five series will determine the eventual winner.