Austin Major is now behind us, but CS2 esports keeps rolling. In 2025, Valve will host another Major — and today, the CS.MONEY Blog breaks down everything we know about this winter’s biggest tournament: StarLadder Budapest Major 2025.
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Where and when is the next Major? What’s the prize pool?
At the end of 2025, the Major is heading to a brand-new country. Hungary has never hosted a CS tournament on this scale, and of course, the matches will take place in the capital — Budapest.
The first three stages will run from November 24 to December 7, hosted in the large hall at MTK Sportpark. It fits around 2,000 fans, so hardcore CS2 followers will get a chance to enjoy the matches up close.
The final part — the playoffs — will move to a venue that’s ten times bigger. MVM Dome can seat just over 20,000 people. Based on the 360-degree stage StarLadder built in Berlin, we can guess they’re planning something just as epic in Budapest.
The prize pool will be the usual $1,250,000. Half a million will go to the champions — but as every pro knows, prize money is just a bonus. The real cash comes from selling in-game stickers.
Format of StarLadder Budapest Major 2025
So far, Valve hasn’t announced any changes to the Major format. That means we’re getting the same setup again: three Swiss-stage phases followed by playoffs. Depending on their VRS ranking, invited teams will be able to skip zero, one, or even two phases. You can’t win the Major in MTK Sportpark — but you can definitely lose and get knocked out.
Each Swiss stage will feature 16 teams. Matchups will depend on how teams perform throughout each stage. Win 3 games before losing 3 — and you’re through. Lose 3? Sorry, pack your bags and head home.
The playoffs will be played in Single Elimination format, with all matches being best-of-three. Valve hasn’t made it official yet, but with the third competitive season coming up, we might see changes to the map pool. Could Overpass or Cache make a comeback? Could Mirage or Inferno be removed? No one knows what Valve is thinking — we’ll just have to wait for their decision.
When will MRQs for the Budapest Major happen?
Here’s the biggest change compared to Austin Major: there will be no qualifiers for the Budapest Major. This time, all 32 teams will be invited by Valve. The selection is based on VRS rankings and regional slots. We’ll find out all the participating teams on October 8, when the next VRS update drops.
Budapest Major regional slot distribution
Пока что Valve рассказала о том, сколько слотов получат регионы в стадиях 2 и 3. Распределение So far, Valve has only shared the slot distribution for Stages 2 and 3. These are based on how teams performed at Austin Major — and interestingly, the distribution is the same for both stages:
- Europe: 5 slots
- Asia: 1 slot
- Americas: 2 slots
We still don’t know how invites will be handed out for Stage 1. We’ll have to wait for more official info from Valve. For most teams, this means they’ll be grinding all the way up to the invite announcement day. It’s going to be a wild couple of months!
