BLAST.tv Austin Major 2025 defined the CS2 season, shattering viewership records and setting a new standard for production, storytelling and crowd atmosphere. The year’s biggest stages and fiercest rivalries all funneled into Austin, making its Event of the Year status feel inevitable.

10. BLAST Bounty Fall 2025

The season closed with pure chaos. BLAST's bounty format rewarded aggressive plays and upset wins perfectly. 800,284 fans peaked watching teams fight for $500,000 and bounty money. 17,418,568 hours watched showed people loved the format change. Spirit's rebuilt roster grabbed their second win here. Ending the year with something different worked really well.

9. ESL Pro League Season 21

EPL remains the marathon tournament where teams prove themselves over weeks, not days. Vitality's win came after long group stages that tested consistency. 571,008 peak viewers and 28,121,747 hours watched the $1,000,000 prize pool get claimed. New rosters used this format to show they could last. EPL doesn't get the flashy numbers, but it matters for different reasons.

8. BLAST Open Spring 2025

Spring kicked off with BLAST bringing 16 teams to Lisbon and Copenhagen. 851,723 viewers peaked during early clashes between Spirit, Falcons, Vitality and NAVI. The $400,000 prize pool and 28,075,230 hours watched made this a strong season opener. Vitality won again because of course they did. Spring events set the meta for the rest of the year.

7. IEM Dallas 2025

North America needed this event badly. Packed Dallas arenas and 914,887 peak viewers brought serious energy back to NA LANs. Vitality won the $1,000,000 prize, continuing their ridiculous streak. 18,965,580 total hours watched proved American crowds still care about top-tier Counter-Strike. Dallas sits perfectly between Majors on the calendar, giving teams a key test before the biggest stages.

6. PGL Astana 2025

Kazakhstan got its first big CS2 event, and PGL brought their usual high-end production. 919,933 viewers peaked watching 16 top teams fight for $1,250,000 at Barys Arena. Spirit won in Vitality's absence, proving they could take trophies when the French weren't around. 21,006,932 hours watched showed people cared about CS coming to new regions. Expanding the map geographically just makes sense for growing the scene.

5. IEM Cologne 2025

The Cathedral of Counter-Strike lived up to its name again. 1,138,942 fans watched at peak as Spirit demolished MOUZ 3-0 in the LANXESS Arena. That final was brutal – MOUZ had no answers. 35,232,115 total hours watched and a $1,250,000 prize showed why Cologne remains special. Spirit's win here was one of the year's most dominant performances. Some tournaments just hit different, and Cologne always does.

4. IEM Melbourne 2025

CS2 finally came to Australia properly, and the Rod Laver Arena crowd went absolutely nuts. 1,253,999 viewers peaked during the event, logging 12,683,348 hours total. Vitality grabbed another $1,000,000 prize pool here, adding bricks to their ESL Grand Slam Season 5 run. The Oceania region proved they love Counter-Strike just as much as Europe. Bringing top-tier CS to new places always works out well.

3. IEM Katowice 2025

Katowice in February set the tone for what 2025 would become. The legendary Spodek Arena packed in fans who watched Vitality beat Spirit in the finals. 1,299,747 peak viewers and 30,666,962 hours watched made this an early-year classic. The $1,250,000 pot brought out the best in everyone. Vitality used this win as a springboard for their historic run. Poland always delivers on atmosphere, and this year proved it again.

2. StarLadder Budapest Major 2025

Budapest hosted the year's second Major and nearly matched Austin's numbers. 1,587,389 people tuned in at peak, watching 71,313,796 total hours. The massive 32-team format with four stages made this feel like a marathon. The MVM Dome playoffs looked incredible on stream. Vitality won again, which surprised exactly nobody by this point in the year.

1. BLAST.tv Austin Major 2025 - Event of the Year

The Austin Major won Event of the Year, and honestly it wasn't even close. With 1,789,038 peak viewers and 76,107,383 hours watched, this became the most-watched Counter-Strike tournament ever. Vitality beat The MongolZ at the Moody Center in what felt like a perfect ending to CS2's biggest year. Everything about Austin was bigger – the production, the crowd, the storylines. When the year's best teams showed up in Texas, they all brought their A-game.

From packed arenas in Cologne and Katowice to new territories like Astana and Melbourne, 2025 delivered a global circuit of big‑money tournaments that kept fans engaged year‑round. Each stop added its own chapter, but Austin’s historic peak and narrative weight put it a tier above the rest.