ESL suspends Impact Circuit citing unsustainable economic model

ESL has announced the suspension of their Impact Circuit, the women Counter-Strike circuit, after season 8, citing an unsustainable economic model.

The ESL Impact hosted its first season in 2022, and since then has had eight iterations till now, with over 10 LAN finals boasting prize pools of $223k each time. In the last few months, the state of Female Counter-Strike had already been thrown into disarray, with many orgs shutting down their female divisions.

In December 2024, both Astralis and ENCE put their female team on hold. Both TSM and Team Spirit also disbanded their female team right before the start of 2025. G2 Oya had earlier parted their ways with the female roster in 2023.