IEM Cologne Major 2026 tops the list of the most popular CS2 tournaments of 2026
The IEM Cologne Major 2026 became the most-watched Counter-Strike 2 tournament in 2026. This information was provided by experts at Esports Charts.
According to the portal’s data, the IEM Cologne Major 2026 broke the all-time CS2 record for peak viewership—2,752,353 people watched the tournament final simultaneously. The second most popular event was IEM Kraków 2026 with 1,387,966 fans, while PGL Astana 2026 came in third (1,169,121). It is worth noting that the Esports World Cup 2026, which offered participants this year’s largest prize pool of $2,000,000, ranked only 5th in the standings with 1,037,187 viewers.
The Most Popular Counter-Strike 2 Tournaments in 2026
- IEM Cologne Major 2026 — 2,752,353 peak viewers;
- IEM Kraków 2026 — 1,387,966;
- PGL Astana 2026 — 1,169,121;
- IEM Rio 2026 — 1,136,343;
- Esports World Cup 2026 — 1,037,187;
- PGL Cluj-Napoca 2026 — 908,945;
- BLAST Open Porto 2026 — 849,574;
- BLAST Open Rotterdam 2026 — 822,023;
- BLAST Rivals Fort Worth 2026 — 820,105;
- BLAST Bounty Winter 2026 — 796,345.
Earlier, Perfect World announced that the second CS2 Major in 2027 will take place in Shanghai. Analyst Duncan “Thorin” Shields criticized Valve’s decision to hold the tournament in China and noted a likely decline in the European audience due to the time difference.
Photo by Stephanie Lindgren, ESL.
