ESL has officially announced the list of participants of the Intel Extreme Masters Melbourne 2025 and confirmed the tournament format. The event will take place from April 21 to 27 at Rod Laver Arena in Melbourne, Australia, and will be part of the prestigious Intel Grand Slam series. Teams will compete for a prize pool of USD 1,000,000, making this tournament one of the key events in the first half of 2025.

Participants of the tournament

IEM Melbourne 2025 will feature 16 invited teams, including both top teams of the world scene and promising squads that demonstrated steady progress in 2024. The list of participants includes: Team Spirit, Team Liquid, paiN Gaming, The MongolZ, FlyQuest, FaZe Clan, Natus Vincere, MOUZ, Virtus.pro, GamerLegion, 3DMAX, BIG, Team Vitality, Eternal Fire, Team Falcons, and MIBR.

Such a selection of teams guarantees a tense struggle, as the participants include titles winners of prestigious tournaments and teams that have a clear goal to gain a foothold in the world's top.

Tournament format

The competition will begin on April 21 with the group stage, which will be held in the GSL (Double-Elimination) format. All teams will be divided into two groups of eight participants. Each match of the group stage will be played in the Bo3 format.

At the end of the group stage, the top three teams from each group will advance to the playoffs. The group winners will immediately qualify for the semifinals, while the second and third place teams will play in the quarterfinals. The teams that finished second in their groups will receive High Seed status, while the third-place teams will play in the playoffs as Low Seed.

The playoffs will take place from April 25 to 27 in the Single-Elimination format. Quarterfinals and semifinals will be held in Bo3 format, and the grand final will be Bo5, which will add even more intrigue to the fight for the champion title.

Prize pool

ESL announced the distribution of $1 000 000 in prize money, which looks like this:

• 1st place - $125 000 + $160 000 club award
• 2nd place - $50 000 + $100 000 club award
• 3-4th place - $25 000 + $80 000
• 5-6th place - $12 500 + $60 000
• 7-8th place - $7 000 + $40 000
• 9-10th place - $5 000 + $20 000
• 13-16th place - $4 000

Expectations from the tournament

IEM Melbourne 2025 promises to be another bright chapter in the history of Counter-Strike 2. The two-group GSL format, with only six teams advancing to the playoffs, increases the importance of each match. Given the lineup, fans can expect fierce fights and potential upsets from teams looking to prove their mettle among the big boys of the scene.

Not only the championship title and $125 000 are at stake, but also the opportunity to get closer to the Intel Grand Slam. ESL continues to create tournaments of the highest level, and IEM Melbourne 2025 will be another large-scale show for CS2 fans.