StarLadder returns with four events planned for 2025-2026

Off the back of PGL announcing their own circuit come 2025, StarLadder have also unveiled plans to run four events over the next two calendar years.

The last StarSeries i-League event StarLadder ran was in late 2019, when Evil Geniuses took the lion's share of the $500,000 prize pool, however, StarLadder did return briefly in 2021 to host the CIS RMR for the moribund Rio Major.

Each new event will feature sixteen teams with a yet undisclosed prize pool. StarLadder cites "a significant increase in the number of professional teams" as well as "new CS2 licensing rules" as contributing factors for their decision to return to Counter-Strike.

The four events' dates have already been released, detailed below.

• Season 19: May 26 – June 1, 2025

• Season 20: September 12 – September 21, 2025

• Season 21: May 25 – May 31, 2026

• Season 22: September 11 – September 20, 2026

These events do not overlap with any events already revealed by ESL, BLAST, or PGL, but with potential overlaps possible in the future as more TOs enter the ecosystem, StarLadder is confident that "several parallel events in different parts of the world will have worthy line-ups of teams and will generate interest among viewers." Below you can find the current announced schedule for 2025 and 2026.

2025 Schedule

January 13-26 - BLAST tournament
January 29-February 9 - ESL tournament
February 10-February 24 - PGL tournament
February 25-March 16 - ESL tournament
March 17- March 30 - BLAST tournament
March 31 - April 14 - PGL tournament
April 21- April 27 - ESL tournament
April 28 - May 4 - BLAST tournament
May 3 - May 19 - PGL tournament
May 19 - May 25 - ESL tournament
May 26 - June 1 - StarLadder tournament
June 9 - June 22 - First Major

Player Break

July 23-August 3 - ESL tournament
August 4 - August 17 - BLAST tournament
August 20 - August 24 - ESL tournament
August 25-September 7 - BLAST tournament
September 12- September 21 - StarLadder tournament
September 23 - October 12 - ESL tournament
September 29 - October 13 - PGL tournament
October 18 - November 3 - PGL tournament
November 3 - November 9 - ESL tournament
November 10 - November 16 - BLAST tournament
December 1 - December 14 - Second Major

2026 Schedule

February 16 - March 2 - PGL tournament
March 23 - April 6 - PGL tournament
May 2 - May 18 - PGL tournament
May 25 - May 31 - StarLadder tournament
June 8 - June 21 - First Major
August 3 - August 17 - PGL tournament
September 11 - September 20 - StarLadder tournament
September 28 - October 12 - PGL tournament
October 19 - November 2 - PGL tournament
November 30 - December 13 - Second Major