IEM Beijing 2026

Dates

Monday 2 to Sunday 8 November 2026

Venue

Bloomage Biotech·Biohyalux ECM Arena, Haidian District, Beijing, China

Organiser

ESL FACEIT Group, with the Beijing Esports Industry Development Association

Prize pool

US$1,250,000: US$300,000 in prize money plus US$950,000 in club share; the champion takes US$360,000 in total

Teams

16: 13 invited from the Valve Regional Standings (VRS) and 3 from closed qualifiers

Format

Two double-elimination groups of eight (2 to 4 November), every match best of 3; the top three from each group reach the playoffs (6 to 8 November), with a third-place match and a best-of-5 grand final

Opening day

Monday 2 November, from 7:30 AM IST; group matches each day from about 7:30 AM IST

Stream

ESL CS on Twitch, YouTube and Kick (two streams)

Status

Live. Group stage 2 to 4 November; Day 1 results below (updated 3 November 2026)

IEM Beijing 2026 is a Counter-Strike 2 tournament run by ESL FACEIT Group at the Bloomage Biotech·Biohyalux ECM Arena in Beijing, China, from 2 to 8 November 2026. Sixteen teams play for a US$1,250,000 prize pool, made up of US$300,000 in prize money and US$950,000 in club share. Thirteen teams were invited from the Valve Regional Standings (VRS), and B8, HEROIC and TYLOO came through closed qualifiers. It is an ESL Pro Tour Masters event, counts towards the ESL Grand Slam, and is the first Intel Extreme Masters in Beijing since 2019. ESL expects more than 45,000 fans, its largest standalone IEM in Asia.

The champion will be shown here after the grand final on 8 November 2026.

Results and standings

Playoffs bracket

The playoff bracket fills in when the group stage ends on 4 November.

Group B (after Day 1)

Group A (after Day 1)

Groups

Day 1 results, Monday 2 November

The eight winners moved to the upper-bracket semi-finals; both upper semi-final winners in each group are guaranteed a playoff place. The eight losers dropped to the lower bracket, where one more defeat ends their tournament.

Day 2 matches, Tuesday 3 November

Times are approximate and follow on as earlier matches finish.

Teams

B8 won the upper bracket of the Global closed qualifier, beating Nuclear TigeRES 2–0. HEROIC dropped to the lower bracket after losing to Eternal Fire, then beat Nuclear TigeRES 2–0 to take the last place.

Schedule

Beijing is 2 hours 30 minutes ahead of India. Times are from ESL’s arena schedule and can move if matches run long.

Format

• Group stage: two groups of eight play a double-elimination bracket. Every match is best of 3. The group winners go straight to the semi-finals; the second- and third-placed teams play the quarter-finals.
• Playoffs: a six-team single-elimination bracket. Quarter-finals, semi-finals and the third-place match are best of 3; the grand final is best of 5.

Prize pool

The totals above add the prize money paid to the team and the ESL club share paid to the organisation. Together they make the US$1,250,000 pool. There is a third-place match, so 3rd and 4th are decided on the final day.

Venue and tickets

All matches are played on a new 360-degree stage at the Bloomage Biotech·Biohyalux ECM Arena in Beijing’s Haidian District. Tickets are sold only through Maoyan (in China) and UUTIX (international buyers); ESL warns against other resellers. Group stage day tickets cost ¥380 to ¥680 and playoff day tickets ¥380 to ¥1,780, with three-day passes and signing-session tickets also on sale. Seats are assigned.

Storylines

• Falcons in the lower bracket: the Major champions, who skipped PGL Masters Bucharest, lost 2–0 to Natus Vincere on Day 1 and must now win through the lower bracket.
• Straight from Bucharest: eleven of the 16 teams also played PGL Masters Bucharest, which ended on 31 October. FURIA arrived as champions and beat FaZe Clan 2–1 in their opener.
• Back in Beijing: the first IEM in the city since Astralis won IEM Beijing 2019. The 2020 edition was played online.
• Home hopes: TYLOO are the only Chinese team in the field, after coming through the Asian closed qualifier.

How to watch in India

Every match streams live and free on ESL CS’s official channels: Stream A on twitch.tv/ESLCS and kick.com/ESLCS, Stream B on twitch.tv/ESLCSb and kick.com/ESLCSb, and both on YouTube (ESLCS). Commentary is in English. The first matches on 2 November start at 7:30 AM IST.

Earlier editions

Astralis won IEM Beijing 2019, beating 100 Thieves 3–0 in the final. IEM Beijing-Haidian 2020 was played online in regional divisions; Team Vitality won the European division, beating Natus Vincere 3–2. All editions are on the IEM Beijing page.

FAQs