The 22nd season of the ESL Pro League to be held in Sweden

The tournament operator ESL FACEIT Grouphas announced that the 22nd season of the ESL Pro League will be held at Stockholm, Sweden. The event, announced in conjunction with updates to the company’s CS2 2025 regulations, will be held at ESL’s studio in the September 27 to October 12 and will feature a prize pool of $1M.

Season 22 of the Counter-Strike 2 competition will take place at the same location as Season 21, which will begin on March 1. Thus, this is the first year since 2021 that an ESL Pro League season will not be held in Malta.

ESL was a long-term partner of GamingMalta and regularly hosted its ESL Pro League events in the country. As early as 2022, ESL extended its partnership with the non-profit foundation of the Government of Malta, resulting in the competition remaining in the country until the end of 2024.

For 2025, the ESL Pro League has undergone significant changes due to Valve’s new guidelines on tournament operation. As a result, instead of permanent partner teams, organizations will qualify for the event through their Valve Global Rankings. In addition, teams will also qualify through the ESL Challenger League, the tournament organizer’s second-tier structure.

The announcement of the venue for the 22nd season of the ESL Pro League was not the only major revelation from the tournament organizer. ESL also announced that its IEM series will move to Melbourne in April. Earlier this month, the ESL Pro League also received a 2025 permit from Valve to operate slightly outside of its new regulations.