IEM to return to Beijing after 7 years

Through a post on X, ESL has revealed the venue for its IEM event in November. The tournament organizer returns to Beijing, China for the first time since 2019 with IEM Beijing 2026. The event will take place in the Bloomage Biotech·Biohyalux ECM Arena between 2nd and 8th November 2026 with a prize pool of $1,250,000 USD.

IEM Beijing 2026 will follow the usual IEM format with two double-elimination brackets in the group stage, filtering out the top six from a total of sixteen invited teams. The playoffs will take place on 6th, 7th and 8th November with a best-of-five grand-final and a dedicated third place decider.

Over the past years, we’ve experienced the incredible passion and energy of Chinese fans first-hand. With IEM Beijing 2026, we’re excited to take things to the next level.
Marc Winther, Director of CS2 Esports, ESL-FACEIT group

The last time there was an IEM event in Beijing, Counter-Strike was still in the Astralis era and the Danes took down 100 Thieves in the grand-final to win the event. IEM Beijing 2026 is a part of the ESL Pro Tour circuit and will count towards the ESL Grand Slam. For more information about tickets, ESL has addressed the fans to keep an eye on their blogpost.