Marc Winther, EFG's Director Game Ecosystems Counter-Strike said in a followup to the announcement: "EFG’s commitment to the Counter-Strike ecosystem encapsulates a financial investment to the long-term health of both teams and players. We believe this commitment enables further stability and provides teams the foundation to continue their investment in Counter-Strike and their players."
Prize Pool
2025 onwards, ESL events will have two kinds of prize money: player prize money and club prize money, the purpose being to facilitate an environment where “players are supported by a competitive base salary and well-organized club support structures."
With that said, the prize pool for IEM Katowice and IEM Cologne has been multiplied from $250,000 to $1,250,000, meaning that $1,000,000 will be split across the winning team while the organization will get $250,000. Moreover, the prize pool of IEM Dallas, Spring and Chengdu has been increased to $1,000,000 ($300,000 for players and $700,000 for the organization). Lastly, the prize pool for ESL Pro League Season 21 and 22 has also been increased to $1,000,000 ($400,000 for players and $600,000 for the organization).
Annual Club Incentive
Starting 2025, a system called Annual Club Incentive will be introduced to the mix. It is being described as a “a non-exclusive system designed to reward teams for their contribution to the ESL Pro Tour in the form of tournament attendance, viewership as well as promotional activities related to ESL events."
Specifically in 2025, the team with the largest contribution will get $2,950,000, where contribution wil be the product of two variables: the sum of points earned for viewership across EPT tournaments and the total number of EPT tournaments a team has participated in.
Invite Cut-off Dates
The team invite cut-off dates for the 2025 EPL events was also part of the announcement, where Valve Regional Standings of that month will also play a role:
IEM Katowice 2025: January 2025
ESL Pro League 21: January 2025
IEM Spring 2025: February 2025
IEM Dallas 2025: February 2025
IEM Cologne 2025: June 2025
ESL Pro League 22: July 2025
KeyDrop has established itself as a titan in the CS2 case-opening space, but with millions of dollars in skins changing hands daily, skepticism is natural. Users often find themselves asking: Is KeyDrop legit, and is KeyDrop safe to use for their Steam inventory?
Operating since 2018, KeyDrop has amassed over 12 million users and maintains a massive community presence. While it is a legitimate platform with a valid license and verifiable fairness tools, it is not "risk-free" in the sense of guaranteed profit. In this guide, we provide an evidence-based analysis of KeyDrop’s reputation, security protocols, and common misconceptions.
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