The playoffs of the IEM Rio Major will take place in the multi-purpose Jeunesse Arena, previously known as the Rio Olympic Arena, which fits up to 18,700 people. The arena is used for sports such as basketball and gymnastics, and has hosted an NBA match, UFC fights, concerts, as well as League of Legends and Rainbow Six Siege tournaments.
Riocentro is the largest exhibition center in Latin America, and will host the Challengers and Legend stages of the IEM Rio Major in its Hall 6. Riocentro is located near the Jeunesse Arena, where the playoffs will take place, and has hosted Pan American Games and Olympics in the past. During the 2014 FIFA World Cup, Riocentreo was utilised as the HQ of the International Broadcast Centre.
The inaugural Major in CS:GO was secured by fnatic in surprise fashion as they defeated heavy favorites, the famous 87-0 NIP, 2-1 in the final. Star AWPer JW led the way for his team.
Go to event pageVirtus.Pro stormed so convincingly to victory on home soil that this Major performance earned them the nickname "Virtus.Plow", with NIP taking yet another silver medal.
Go to event pageFinally NIP won the Major their dominance of early CS:GO history so richly deserved, with their entry fragger Friberg picking up the MVP nod for his impact throughout the tournament.
Go to event pageLDLC grabbed a Major victory that was overshadowed by the infamous 'olofboost' incident that occurred in their quarterfinal with fnatic; such was the backlash from the incident that instead of accepting the proposed replay, fnatic forfeited the game.
Go to event pageA replay of the first Major final saw fnatic again emerge triumphant in the all-Swedish derby, earning the organization its second Major trophy. This would mark NIP's fifth and last appearance in a Major final.
Go to event pagefnatic emerged victorious in a battle with French titans Envy, marking history by being the first team in CS:GO to win back-to-back Majors. The crowning achievement of what would come to be known as the 'fnatic era'.
Go to event pageFrenchmen Envy took the title in Romania, with the same core of players that won DreamHack Winter 2014, beating a NAVI side who were appearing in their first Major final.
Go to event pageThe Columbus Major was the first to feature a $1M dollar prize pool, the first to take place outside of Europe, and the first to be won by a non-European team; the Brazilians of LG would bring the Major trophy home to South-America.
Go to event pageThe Brazilian squad that won Columbus picked up their second Major in Cologne, this time under the SK banner. coldzera was again the standout for his team, earning his second Major MVP.
Go to event pageThe Danes of Astralis secured their first Major title in Atlanta, besting the very same Virtus.Pro who won the Katowice Major in 2014 after a memorable comeback on Train.
Go to event pageKrakow bore witness to the greatest underdog run in CS:GO Major history, as world number 15 Gambit secured the Major title under the leadership of NAVI legend Zeus.
Go to event pageCloud9 won North America's first Major in dramatic fashion, coming back from a 11-15 deficit on the final map to beat FaZe in overtime in front of a packed and raucous home crowd.
Go to event pageAstralis picked up their second Major title in London after a dominant run in the bracket stage. The Danes had a flawless 6-0 map score in playoffs and beat NAVI in the final to lift the trophy.
Go to event pageAstralis became only the second team to win three majors and two back-to-back with victory in Katowice, ending the fairy-tale run of underdog Finns ENCE to do so.
Go to event pageHistory was made at this Major as Astralis became the only team to win four Majors and three back-to-back, once again beating surprise finalists to seal it, this time in the form of the CIS squad AVANGAR.
Go to event pageAfter three second-place finishes, NAVI finally secured a Major title on the wings of an incredible MVP performance from s1mple. The CIS team made history as the first one to win a Major without dropping a single map.
Go to event pageIn the packed-to-the-brim Antwerps Sportpaleis in Belgium, karrigan finally lifted his first Major trophy with FaZe. The squad also made history as the first international team to win the Valve-sponsored event.
Go to event pageThe IEM Rio Major will make history as the first CS:GO World Championship event held outside of the game's two main regions, Europe and North America. Tournament organizer ESL will be in charge of running the event in Brazil, where they previously hosted ESL Pro League Season 4 and ESL One Belo Horizonte, with numerous fans from the country rejoicing at the opportunity to witness a Major on home soil.
The prize pool for the Major will once again amount to $1,250,000, with the tournament winner set to take home half of the pot for their efforts, $500,000. There is a significant drop in prize money allocated to the runners-up, just $150,000, while the 3-4th placed teams would earn less than half of that, $70,000. However, both organizations and players that qualify for the IEM Rio Major will be expecting significant profits from the in-game sticker sales, which are released shortly before the event kicks off.
Placement | Prize |
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1st | $500,000 |
2nd | $150,000 |
3rd-4th | $70,000 |
5th-8th | $35,000 |
9th-16th | $8,750 |
17th-24th | $0 |
Start date | Oct 31st |
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End date | Nov 13th |
Teams | 24 |
Prize pool | $1,250,000 |
Event | Date | Prize pool | Location | 2nd | Winner |
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Nov 05 - Nov 13 2022 | $1,250,000 | ![]() |
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May 14 - May 22 2022 | $1,000,000 | ![]() |
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Oct 30 - Nov 07 2021 | $2,000,000 | ![]() |
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Aug 28 - Sep 08 2019 | $1,000,000 | ![]() |
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Feb 20 - Mar 03 2019 | $1,000,000 | ![]() |
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Sep 12 - Sep 23 2018 | $1,000,000 | ![]() |
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Jan 19 - Jan 28 2018 | $1,000,000 | ![]() |
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Jul 16 - Jul 23 2017 | $1,000,000 | ![]() |
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Jan 22 - Jan 29 2017 | $1,000,000 | ![]() |
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Jul 05 - Jul 10 2016 | $1,000,000 | ![]() |
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Mar 29 - Apr 03 2016 | $1,000,000 | ![]() |
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Oct 28 - Nov 01 2015 | $250,000 | ![]() |
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Aug 20 - Aug 23 2015 | $250,000 | ![]() |
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Mar 12 - Mar 15 2015 | $250,000 | ![]() |
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Nov 27 - Nov 29 2014 | $250,000 | ![]() |
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Aug 14 - Aug 17 2014 | $250,000 | ![]() |
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Mar 13 - Mar 16 2014 | $250,000 | ![]() |
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Nov 28 - Nov 30 2013 | $250,000 | ![]() |
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CS:GO Majors are the biggest Counter-Strike event on the calendar. They have been hosted since 2013 by various tournament organizers, and backed by game developer Valve.
DreamHack Winter 2013, the first Major since the release of Global Offensive, was won by fnatic who upset favorites NIP in the grand final. The, at the time, staggering $250,000 prize pool was supported by the community through the purchase of keys for the esports skin case, while those that watched Major matches live were rewarded by drops such as the prized Cobblestone Souvenir Package.
In the early years, three Majors were held during a year, with each of them being played out within less than a week. From 2016 onwards, only two Majors are hosted each year, but the prize pool was increased to $1,250,000 and the events were continually expanded to accommodate for more extensive formats.
MLG Columbus was the first Major to be held outside of Europe and the first one won by a non-European team, Luminosity Gaming, while Cloud9 secure North America their first and only Major trophy at ELEAGUE Boston in 2018. Teams such as Virtus.pro, LDLC, and Gambit won Majors over the years, but fnatic with three victories and Astralis with four stand out as the most successful Major teams of all times.
The latest Counter-Strike World Championship was PGL Antwerp, taking place in Belgium in May of 2022. The trophy was claimed by FaZe, who defeated previous Major winners Natus Vincere in the grand final and became the first Major-winning international team.