ESL announces first ever CS2 IEM Krakow for 2026

ESL FACEIT Group has officially announced IEM Krakow 2026, the newest addition to its Intel Extreme Masters lineup for Counter-Strike 2 esports. With this announcement, the legendary IEM Katowice era comes to an end after over a decade of unforgettable CS2 esports moments.

IEM Krakow is now positioned to carry forward that legacy on a grander stage, with an even larger audience than Katowice. On that note, here’s everything we know so far about the CS2 IEM Krakow 2026.

IEM Krakow 2026 replaces IEM Katowice in ESL's growing CS2 competitive calendar

The Intel Extreme Masters Krakow 2026 will be the first time a high-tier CS2 tournament has been held in Krakow, Poland since the PGL Krakow Major in 2017. Interestingly, this announcement from ESL comes right after PGL recently announced the cancellation of their Krakow tournament that was planned for 2027.

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Intel Extreme Masters Krakow 2026 announcement banner (Image via ESL FACEIT Group)

The early stage of the tournament starts on January 27, 2026, featuring 24 top teams from around the world. Only the top six teams will qualify for the main LAN event that starts on February 6, 2026, and concludes on February 8, 2026. The total prize pool for the tournament is a whopping $1.25 million, which is slightly more than the $1 million prize pool that IEM Katowice used to have for a long time.

The LAN event will be hosted at the TAURON Arena, the same venue that hosted the 2017 Major. This venue has nearly twice the capacity of the Spodek Arena in Katowice. This move is part of a new multi-year agreement between ESL FACEIT Group and the city of Krakow, aiming to make IEM Krakow one of the biggest highlights in the global esports scene.

The local fans will get a sneak peek of the trophy design at the Galeria Krakowska between May 30, 2025, and June 2, 2025, followed by a public display at the Krakow City Hall on June 8, 2025.

CS2 Intel Extreme Masters schedule through 2026 (confirmed so far)

There are three IEM events confirmed till early 2026 for Counter-Strike 2 so far:

IEM Cologne 2025: July 23, 2025 to August 3, 2025
IEM Chengdu 2025: November 3, 2025 to November 9, 2025
IEM Krakow 2026: February 6, 2025 to February 8, 2026

That's everything we know about the upcoming Intel Extreme Masters tournaments. For more information, players are advised to follow the official ESL Counter-Strike channels across social media platforms.

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About the author

Harshit Singh is a gaming journalist at Sportskeeda, with Fortnite, Counter-Strike 2, and Marvel Rivals being his areas of specialization. A final-year B.Des (Visual Communication) student at Delhi Technological University, he is always eager to pursue creative endeavors. Harshit aims to deliver news and up-to-date content promptly to players around the globe. To that end, he acquires information from reliable forums and social media pages and religiously tracks the latest coverage of Fortnite — a game he has been playing since 2018. He is often found testing the new meta in-game or spectating competitive tournaments.

Harshit holds a deep love for video games, which stemmed from the hours he spent playing GTA Vice City, NFS Most Wanted 2005, FlatOut 2, and Total Overdose in his school days. Currently, he is veering towards story-driven, single-player games, with Red Dead Redemption 2 being one of his favorites.

Harshit is an ardent fan of esports titles like CS, Rocket League, and Valorant, with Fnatic, EDG, G2, and Astralis being a few of his favorite orgs. Counter-Strike pro Xantares and Benjifishy, an esports athlete who has mastered both Fortnite and Valorant, are inspirational figures for him.

Harshit works as a music producer under the alias Hysaze. He is extremely passionate about EDM and has garnered over 40 million streams across all platforms. He is also a regular contributor to Fandom’s EDM Wiki.

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