IEM Katowice 2022 to Feature $1.5 Million Prize Pool With Live Audience
ESL celebrates ten years of IEM Katowice!
ESL has announced details about IEM Katowice 2022, one of the biggest esports tournaments to take place annually. This year, ESL is celebrating ten years of IEM Katowice, featuring a massive $1.5M USD prize pool split between CS:GO ($1M) and StarCraft II ($500K).
The event scheduled to take place from 15th to 27th February will be kick-starting the 2022 competitive circuit for CS:GO. The event will take place in front of a live audience at the Spodek Arena in Katowice, Poland.
It will be a chance for the CS:GO teams to not only walk away with a piece of the total prize pool but also with ESL Pro Tour (EPT) Points. The ticket sales for the tournament are already live and it looks like the community is excited to start the year on this high note.
IEM Katowice 2022 to take place on LAN in front of a live audience
The last time that IEM Katowice was last held in front of a live audience was in 2019 as a CS:GO Major. It did take place on LAN in 2020 as well, but had to shift into a studio event due to the pandemic. However, the tournament is finally back to take place in grand style at the Spodek Arena in Katowice, from 15th to 27th Feb.
IEM Katowice 2022: Participating Teams
A total of 24 CS:GO teams will be competing at the IEM Katowice 2022. While eight teams will be directly qualifying to the Group Stage, the remaining 16 teams will have to fight through the Play-In Stage. The teams are seeded based on their ESL rankings
Group Stage
Gambit Esports
Natus Vincere
G2 Esports
Heroic
Team Vitality
Virtus.pro
Team Liquid
FURIA
Play-In Stage
Ninjas in Pyjamas
Astralis
FaZe Clan
GODSENT
Extra Salt
MIBR
TYLOO
Renegades
BIG
Entropiq
OG Esports
Copenhagen Flames
Fnatic
ENCE
MOUZ
Wisla Krakow
IEM Katowice 2022: Format
Play-In Stage
The tournament will kick off with the Play-In stage which features a 16 team double-elimination bracket. The opening matches will be a best-of-one series while all the remaining matches will be a best-of-three series. Through this stage only the top eight teams will advance further to the Main Event, while the remaining teams will be eliminated.
Group Stage
This stage of the tournament will feature two double-elimination groups of eight teams each where every match will be a best-of-three series. The top-three teams from each group will further qualify into the 'Playoffs'.
Playoffs
The final stage of the tournament will feature a single-elimination bracket where every match will be a best-of-three series, except for the grand finals which will be a best-of-five matchup.
IEM Katowice 2022: ESL Pro Tour Points and Prize Pool
The tournament will be featuring a total prize pool of $1.5 million, out of this CS:GO teams will be competing for $1 million which will be split between all the 24 participating teams. Additionally, teams will also be awarded ESL Pro Tour points based on their rankings.
The CS:GO community is excited to witness IEM Katowice 2022 which will be kicking off the 2022 competitive circuit and also feature a IEM Katowice 2022 - SC II tournament.
It will be interesting to see if NAVI can continue where they left off or if the arrival of a new season brings with it a new team that can compete with them.