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PGL Esports has revealed more information surrounding next year’s tier-one Counter-Strike 2 tournament, PGL Astana 2026, including its $1.6m (~£1.18m) prize pool.

The event is scheduled for May 7th to 18th, 2026, with the final three days taking place at the Barys Arena in Kazakhstan’s capital.

PGL Astana 2026 will see the top 16 CS2 teams in the world compete. Twelve will be invited based on their Global VRS rankings as of March 2nd, 2026 and four from both the Open and Closed Qualifiers. The seeding for the event will be based on VRS rankings from April 6th, 2026.

PGL Esports also revealed the distribution of it’s $1.6m prize pool funds:

Placement  Total Winnings  PrizeMoney  Club Reward

🥇 1st Place  $512.000  $256.000 $256.000

🥈 2nd Place $240.000 $120.000 $120.000

🥉 3rd Place $192.000 $96.000 $96.000 

4th Place $112.000 $56.000 $56.000

5th–8th Place $80.000 $40.000 $40.000 

9th–11th Place $40.000 $20.000 $20.000 

12th–14th Place $24.000 $12.000 $12.000 

15th–16th Place $16.000 $8.000 $8.000 

PGL shared that tickets for the event will be on sale ‘very soon,’ although a specific date has not been revealed. It also shared more details surrounding roster eligibility and rules, alongside integrity guidelines.

Every Regional Qualifier for PGL Astana 2026

The post also detailed the schedule and formats for PGL Astana 2026’s regional qualifiers.

Europe, North America and South America

The Open Qualifiers will run from February 14th to 17th, 2026. Each region will host two Open Qualifiers, and the top two teams from each will progress.

The Closed Qualifiers will take place from February 26th to March 1st, 2026. The top four teams from each region’s Open Qualifier will participate, alongside four additional teams per region that will be invited based on their VRS rankings. The Closed Qualifier will feature a double elimination bracket, with all matches being Bo3 and the Grand Final being Bo5.

Asia

Asia will have qualifiers for Oceania, West Asia and East Asia. Two teams will be invited based on the Asian VRS rankings. There will be one Open Qualifier, with the top two teams advancing onto the Closed Qualifier.

The four teams will then compete in a double-elimination bracket, with matches being Bo3. Only one team from each sub-region will qualify for the Asia Finals.

The Asia Finals will see the top three teams compete, which will be seeded based on their VRS ranking. Two teams will compete in a Bo3 match, and the winner will face the third team in a Bo5 match, with the winner qualifying for PGL Astana 2026.

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