IEM Melbourne 2025 viewer’s guide

For the first time ever, an Intel Extreme Masters (IEM) event comes to the city of Melbourne, Australia. It’s also been quite a while since IEM Sydney 2023, so the excitement from Counter-Strike 2 (CS2) esports fans is high!

We’ll see 16 of the best CS2 teams in the world compete for their share of the $1 million prize pool. At the current Dollar to Rand exchange rate, that’s roughly R19 million. Let’s dive in and discuss the most important event details.

IEM Melbourne 2025 event details

The tournament features a group stage from April 21 to 24, 2025, with two double-elimination (GSL) groups of eight teams each, all matches best-of-three, and the top three from each advancing.

The Playoffs will take place at the iconic Rod Laver Arena from 25 to 27 April 2025. This is a single-elimination bracket affair, with first-placed teams from groups going straight to the Semifinals, second and third-placed teams playing Quarterfinals, and all matches are best-of-three except the Grand Final, which is best-of-five.

You can check out the complete list of teams competing at IEM Melbourne 2025 below, including whether they have been invited based on global standings or regional standings, and from which region they hail.

You can catch all the CS2 esports action over on the official ESL CS:GO Twitch channel, so don’t miss out! Stay tuned to Esports Central for ongoing coverage and in-depth analyses of the results, including a possible highlights video for IEM Melbourne 2025.

Header image via ESL.