Ukrainian esports tournament organizer Starladder has announced its plans to return to the Counter-Strike esports scene, with four new tournaments scheduled for 2025 and 2026. Starladder cited Valve's new CS2 licensing rules as a key factor in their decision to make a comeback.
The company noted that the "new CS2 licensing rules" and a "significant increase in the number of professional teams" were the main reasons behind their return to the Counter-Strike ecosystem. The announced Starladder tournaments are scheduled as follows:
???? New CS2 ERA? We've heard something about pretty tight scheduling. Okay! We're going to make it a little bit scarier!
— StarLadder CS2 (@StarLadderCS) April 1, 2024
Today, StarLadder announces that the company is back on the road with at least four StarSeries tournaments in 2025 - 2026 ???? https://t.co/J5FX0nVlGs pic.twitter.com/6jiHMrlnwz
Each of the four events will feature 16 teams, with qualifiers to be held around the world. Starladder also mentioned that they expect "several parallel events in different parts of the world will have worthy line-ups of teams and will generate interest among viewers."Starladder's return to Counter-Strike comes shortly after other major tournament organizers like PGL and ESL announced their own plans for the CS2 era. PGL revealed 11 tier-one events across 2025 and 2026, while ESL shared their 2025 schedule earlier this year. With the influx of new tournament organizers and events, the Counter-Strike esports scene is poised for a significant expansion in the coming years as the transition to CS2 takes place. Fans can look forward to a packed calendar of high-profile tournaments featuring the world's top teams.