The first major tournament of this year, Masters Madrid, starts in just a few hours, and fans are eagerly preparing to watch the professionals' battle. A day before the tournament's start, the organizers disclosed the prize pool, and the community was surprised by its relatively small amount.

According to Liquipedia, the total prize pool for the tournament is only $500,000. It will be divided as follows:

• 1st place - $250,000, plus 3 VCT Points
• 2nd place - $100,000
• 3rd place - $65,000
• 4th place - $35,000
• 5th-6th places - $15,000
• 7th-8th places - $10,000

Following the announcement of the amount, game fans were somewhat disappointed, judging by comments on social media. The reason is that this year's tournament will have the smallest prize pool in the entire history of the Masters series. In 2021, Masters - Reykjavík and Master Berlin had prize pools of $600,000 and $700,000, respectively. In 2022, Masters - Reykjavík and Masters - Copenhagen were held with prize pools of $675,000 and $650,000. And in 2023, the only Masters Tokyo had a huge prize pool of $1,000,000.

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It is still unclear why the upcoming tournament will have such a small prize pool compared to last year's tournaments. It is most likely due to the fact that there will be another Masters Shanghai in 2024, so its prize will also be $500,000.