Esports tournament operator ESL FACEIT Group has announced that Season 22 of the ESL Pro League will take place in Stockholm, Sweden.
Announced alongside updates to the company’s CS2 2025 rulebook, the event will take place in ESL’s studio from September 27th to October 12th and features a $1m (~£819,500) prize pool.
Season 22 of the Counter-Strike 2 competition will occur in the same location as Season 21, the latter of which is set to commence on March 1st. As a result, this is the first year since 2021 that an ESL Pro League season has not been held in Malta.
Back in December, ESL noted that Season 21 of the ESL Pro League would be hosted in Stockholm, however, the location of Season 22 was not disclosed.
ESL was a long-term partner of GamingMalta and regularly hosted its ESL Pro League events in the country. Back in 2022, ESL extended its partnership with the Government of Malta’s non-profit foundation which saw the competition remain in the country until the end of 2024.
For 2025, the ESL Pro League has undergone significant changes due to Valve’s newly enforced tournament operation guidelines. As a result, instead of permanent partner teams, organisations will qualify for the event via their Valve Global Rankings.
Additionally, teams will also qualify through the ESL Challenger League, the tournament organiser’s tier-two structure.
In the case of Season 21, 12 have qualified via their Valve rankings, with a further 12 entering through the ESL Challenger League ecosystem.
The announcement of ESL Pro League Season 22’s location wasn’t the only major reveal by the tournament organiser. ESL also announced that its IEM series will head to Melbourne in April.
Earlier this month, the ESL Pro League was also given an exemption by Valve for 2025 to operate slightly outside of its new regulations. For Season 21 the event may directly invite some teams based on their previous Pro League performances. Meanwhile, for Season 22, the event can invite additional wildcard rosters to its closed qualifier.
