Rumors and discussions among users have been confirmed — HLTV insiders have organized a large-scale location announcement for the main Counter-Strike 2 events for 2027. According to the report, we are waiting for a return to South America and another landing in China, which looks as logical as possible in terms of expansion.
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CS2 Major in Argentina and FiReSPORTS organizer
Let’s just say that the spring major (which is also the first of the season) will be held in Buenos Aires from May 31 to June 20. The organization will be handled by local guys from FiReSPORTS — this is, in general, their first entry to such an exorbitant level.
By the way, there are a couple of interesting points here:
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Historic debut: Argentina will become the fourteenth country on the list of major hosts, joining the United States and Brazil.
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South American comeback: In fact, by the time of the launch, it will be five years since the legendary event in Rio, where our guys from Virtus.pro (then under the tag Outsiders) they took the cup.
In general, for FiReSPORTS, this seems to be a test of strength. After canceling their joint plans with PGL for 2025 due to Valve’s busy schedule, a major at home is the chance of a lifetime, really.
The second major 2027 in Shanghai from Perfect World
The second championship in 2027 will probably be held in Shanghai under the wing of Perfect World. The dates are already packed — from November 22 to December 12. It is interesting that the Chinese metropolis is turning into a real hub for CS2, because Perfect World already held a major there in 2024.
The calendar itself is packed for years to come:
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2026: We are waiting for the IEM Cologne Major first, followed by the PGL Singapore Major.
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2027: Argentina and China are officially (almost).
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2028: ESL and BLAST have already booked dates, but the cities are still completely quiet.
Everything raises some questions about the FiReSPORTS experience. Holding regional shooting gallery-2 tournaments is one thing, but bringing an event to millions of viewers is a completely different story, that’s it. Hopefully, there will be fewer lags than at the first CS majors.:GO in due time.
A new era of CS2: how Valve plowed through the selection for the 2027 majors
Forget everything you knew about RMR tournaments — Valve decided to finally send the old system to the dustbin of history. To be honest, it was high time to change something, because by 2027 the format of the majors had been expanded to 32 teams, which means that the selection process should become different, tougher and more logical at the same time.
Valve Regional Standards System and RMR Cancellation
Now, instead of one-time outbreaks at RMR events, Valve Regional Stands (VRS) will rule the ball. In fact, this is a dynamic table that lives and breathes every week, taking into account all your achievements over the past six months.
By the way, here’s what really changed:
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No reset: Have you changed the player or the region? Glasses, in general, no longer burn to zero, as before.
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Mathematics of success: The VRS system is not just numbers, but a fierce mix of prize money (up to 2000 base points), the strength of your opponents and personal encounters.
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Focus on distance: Now it’s important not to “shoot” once, but to consistently grind tournaments for six months — this is probably the recipe for success.
In addition, Valve wants to see those in the major who really work all season, and not just catch the courage for a week — fair enough, right?
MRQ qualifications and the format of invitations for the 2027 major
The selection process itself is now divided into regional qualifications — Major Regional Qualifiers (MRQS). Europe and America received 16 slots each, while Asia was allocated only 8 — not enough, of course, but these are the realities.
The most interesting part begins with the distribution by stages:
Stage 1: The top 6 from Europe and America fly in here, plus the top four from Asia.
Stage 2: Here, 8 direct invites are added to the survivors of the first stage. Moreover, the number of slots for the region depends on how many teams got into the top 16 at the last major — that’s logical, that’s it.
Stage 3: 8 more “fat” invitations fly away to those who dragged the top 8 in the previous championship.
As a result, we get 32 teams — exactly half break through the strong points of the match with MRQ, and the rest go to VRS on merit. Apparently, the online format of some qualifiers will help teams like Passion UA not to go broke on flights while they climb through tier-2 CCT tournaments.
The world ranking of Valve teams and the leaders of the VRS table
VRS will be the main measure of coolness. There are regional tables for Europe, America and Asia, and there is a global top — it is according to him that invitations to Tier-1 events will be sent (at least 20 slots, of which 8 are VRS hardware).
In fact, it’s cool to motivate teams not just to sit on a salary, but to really fight for every victory. For example, CIS teams will now have to butt heads even more tightly in the European table, because stability has become more important than one-time successes.
Such a system looks like Valve’s attempt to turn esports into a kind of classic sport with a clear rating — cool, really. Let’s see how this will work in practice in May-June and November-December 2027, when the first two majors will be held in the new format. So far, Vitality, with their 2,427 points, looks down on everyone, but there’s probably still a lot of water left before 2027.
FiReSPORTS experience and Counter Strike tournaments
It is worth considering that FiReSPORTS has managed to get its hands on local events over the past six years. But the major is a monster of a different order. Apparently, Valve decided to take a risk and give way to “young” operators in order to dilute the monopoly of ESL and PGL. Whether they will be able to create the very atmosphere of Latin American madness, we will soon find out how cool it is.
