PGL Masters Bucharest 2026: Oct. 24 to 31, 16 teams and $1.25 million, with $450,000 for the winning team

PGL’s Counter-Strike season builds toward its Major with one more big stop at home. Here’s when PGL Masters Bucharest 2026 runs, what the teams play for and how to watch.

When is PGL Masters Bucharest 2026?

The main event runs from Oct. 24 to 31, 2026, in Bucharest, Romania, eight days of Tier 1 Counter-Strike 2. PGL’s calendar and its August qualifier post list the event from Oct. 22, while its event page and January announcement give Oct. 24 for the main event. The main event is played on LAN in a studio setting, while the qualifiers were played online.

Prize pool and how it’s split

The total is $1,250,000, made up of $625,000 in prize money and $625,000 in club rewards, and both pots are split the same way. The winner takes $225,000 from each, $450,000 in all. Second place gets $100,000 from each pot, third $68,750 and fourth $43,750. Teams in fifth to eighth get $25,000 from each, ninth to 11th $15,625, 12th to 14th $9,375 and 15th and 16th $6,250.

How the 16 teams got in

Twelve teams got direct invites from Valve’s global regional standing, starting from first place, with invites sent on July 6, 2026. Valve’s standing from Oct. 5 sets the seeding for the main event.

The other four spots came from qualifiers. Online open qualifiers ran on Sept. 3 to 6. In Europe, North America and South America, the top two teams from each of two open qualifiers joined four invited teams in an eight-team closed qualifier on Sept. 9 to 12, played double elimination with best-of-three matches and a best-of-five final. Asia ran three smaller closed qualifiers for Oceania, West Asia and East Asia, and their three winners met in an Asia final on Sept. 13. One team from each of the four qualifiers reached Bucharest. PGL’s event page doesn’t list the final 16 teams.

Tickets and how to watch

PGL hasn’t listed tickets for the main event. It describes a studio event and says fans can follow every round live from home through its coverage, on PGL’s official Twitch and YouTube channels. Players and teams also had to confirm they have no conflict of interest with any other team in the event, under the event’s integrity rules.

PGL’s next stop is much bigger: the Singapore Major, from Nov. 24 to Dec. 13, with 32 teams and the final four days in an arena, as our CS2 Major Singapore 2026 page explains.

This page is updated as soon as PGL publishes the teams, the bracket and the results.