ESL has unveiled key dates and details for three major ESL Pro Tour Masters events in 2026, confirming the circuit will return to Brazil, the United States, and China next year.
Intel Extreme Masters (IEM) Brazil 2026 will kick off the international slate, running April 13–19. IEM USA will follow from May 11–17, while IEM China will wrap up the year with its tournament set for November 2–8. Specific host cities for all three events are yet to be announced.
All three competitions will stick with the established LAN format and a $1 million prize pool. Teams will earn invites through the Global and Regional Valve Regional Standings (VRS) rankings, with a consistent 16-team format: 11 global invites, three regional invites, and two qualifier slots.
Global Qualifiers will use European servers but source teams from a worldwide VRS list. Meanwhile, each regional qualifier will be hosted on local servers — South America for Brazil, North America for USA, and East Asia for China — to better support domestic contenders.
Each event will feature a double-elimination group stage, with the top three teams from each group advancing to a single-elimination playoff bracket. The Grand Final will be a best-of-five series, with all other matches played as best-of-threes. A third-place decider match also returns.
This announcement comes as the 2025 season passes its halfway mark, with IEM Cologne — the next championship event — set to run from July 23 to August 3.
Intel recently announced a major change to its annual calendar, with IEM Katowice no longer taking place. Instead, after over a decade heading to the city, the event has moved cross-country to Krakow, with a bigger capacity stadium to bring even more fans into the arena.
