PGL has successfully locked in the participation of the world's 14 best Counter-Strike 2 teams for its upcoming Bucharest event, organizers confirmed.
The tournament is set to run from January 17-24 at PGL's studio facilities in Romania. Teams will compete for a substantial $1 million prize pool, complemented by an additional $400,000 in VRS bonus rewards. The final two roster spots will be determined through an eight-team closed qualifier taking place October 16-20.
The lineup consists of teams ranked highest according to October's invitational rankings. Their commitment to the Romanian LAN suggests they've chosen PGL Bucharest over BLAST Bounty, which kicks off the season in Malta.
BLAST's tournament spans January 11-24, creating a scheduling overlap during its second week when PGL Bucharest takes place. BLAST plans to reveal Bounty participants next month using November's invitational rankings as the selection criteria.
The Malta-based organizer previously announced significant format changes for Bounty, scrapping the online phase entirely and cutting the field size from 32 down to 16 competitors for this year's edition.
