EWC 2026 to increase the prize pool to $2 mil

The prize pool for CS2 at the Esports World Cup has been increased from $1.25 million to $2 million for the 2026 edition, as revealed by EWC.

The tournament will be held from Aug 12th-23rd 2026, hosting two stage in Riyadh. The invites will be based on the VRS of June 2026, followed by an Open Qualifier.

The Open Qualifier will be held on LAN from August 7th-9th, featuring single-elimination games. As per EWC, the Open Qualifiers will be a NON-BYOC LAN, meaning you won't need to bring your computers, and will support up to 128 teams.

Invite Structure:

• Slots 1-21: Global VRS

• Slots 22-23: NA VRS

• Slots 24-25: SA VRS

• Slots 26-27: Asia VRS

• Slot 28: Asian Championship League 2026 winner

• Slot 29-32: Open Qualifier Winners

Format