The Australian audience has proven time and again that they deserve their own Counter-Strike tournament every year. The local crowd adores the game and, unlike other fans, they not only support their own teams but simply enjoy the process.

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The latest confirmation of this was the ESL Challenger at DreamHack Melbourne 2023, where there were sell-out crowds at all matches despite Complexity being the most famous team. So there are no doubts about the feasibility of hosting IEM Sydney 2023.

The upcoming event will be the fourth in the history of the IEM Sydney series. Prior to this, such tournaments were held from 2017 to 2019. The first champions of IEM Sydney were SK, who defeated FaZe in the final. Unfortunately, no local team was able to make it to the playoffs.

In 2018, FaZe won IEM Sydney. Interestingly, at that time in Australia, the current Heroic coach, Richard "Xizt" Landström, stood in as a stand-in for a team. In addition, the Chinese team TYLOO reached the semifinals, and in the quarterfinals, Renegades played with Justin "jks" Savage and Joakim "jkaem" Myrbostad in their lineup.

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IEM Sydney 2019 was successful for Liquid. The North American team defeated fnatic in the final and received $100,000. NRG also reached the semifinals, where Damien "daps" Steele, who now coaches Liquid, played at that time.

Let's remind you that IEM Sydney 2023 will take place from October 16th to 22nd, with a prize pool of $250,000, and the tournament winner will receive $100,000 and a slot at IEM Katowice 2024. Furthermore, this event is part of Intel Grand Slam Season 5. Currently, Vitality, ENCE, G2, and MOUZ are competing for $1,000,000 in gold bars, each with one victory, and all are participating in IEM Sydney 2023.