The Evolution Of Iem Cologne: A Premier Esports Event

IEM Cologne is a Counter-Strike: Global Offensive tournament run by the Electronic Sports League. The event has been sponsored by video game developer Valve and has been held annually since 2014. The tournament features 24 teams from all over the world, eight of which go straight to the group stage, while the remaining 16 have to go through the Play-In stage. The LANXESS arena in Cologne, known as the Cathedral of Counter-Strike, has been the venue for the tournament since 2015.

IEM Cologne 2025

The tournament will see 24 of the world's best teams compete for the IEM Cologne 2025 title and a share of the $1,000,000 prize money. The event is the second EPT (ESL Pro Tour) championship of the year and is known as the 'Cathedral of Counter-Strike', with the Lanxess Arena known for its roaring crowds and electrifying atmosphere.

The tournament will also feature an IEM gaming expo, with tens of thousands of gaming enthusiasts in attendance, as well as an all-women's CS:GO league, ESL Impact.

Tickets for the event will go on sale in four waves, with the first wave of tickets going on sale on 24th October 2024.

Intel Extreme Masters

IEM Cologne 2023 took place from July 26 to August 6, with G2 Esports winning the title after beating ENCE 3-1 in the grand final. The tournament was the last to feature 'Counter-Strike: Global Offensive' as the esport is transitioning to 'Counter-Strike 2', which will be released in summer 2024.

The tournament began with a double-elimination Play-In Stage, where 16 teams competed to qualify and play against the eight directly invited teams. Of the 16 teams, only eight could advance to the Group Stage: MOUZ, Fnatic, Astralis, Monte, The MongolZ, OG, 9ine, and Ninjas in Pyjamas.

The Group Stage featured two double-elimination groups of eight teams, with the top three teams per group advancing to the playoffs. MOUZ, for instance, defeated the titan NAVI in the Upper Bracket but was later knocked out in the Lower Bracket Semifinal after facing Astralis.

The Playoffs stage featured a single-elimination bracket with group winners in the semi-finals. G2 Esports and ENCE were the top-seeded teams, with Team Vitality, Cloud9, Heroic, and Astralis filling the remaining spots in the quarterfinals. G2 Esports ultimately claimed the title, marking the third team in history to win Katowice and Cologne in the same year.

IEM Cologne 2025 will take place in the Lanxess Arena, welcoming 24 of the world's best teams to compete for the title.

The 'Cathedral of Counter-Strike'

The LANXESS Arena in Cologne, Germany, is known as the "Cathedral of Counter-Strike" and has hosted some of the most legendary and popular events in Counter-Strike history. The arena has become well-known for its roaring crowds and electrifying atmosphere.

The Intel Extreme Masters (IEM) tournament has been held in Cologne annually since 2014, with the first three tournaments sponsored by video game developer Valve. The event has featured legendary bouts that will forever live in Counter-Strike lore, with the world's top teams competing for the title.

IEM Cologne 2023 was the last edition of the event to feature CS:GO, as the esport is transitioning to Counter-Strike 2, set to be released in summer 2025. The tournament took place from July 26 to August 6, with the Play-In Stage and group stage held behind closed doors and the playoff matches occurring in front of a crowd at the LANXESS Arena.

The tournament began with a double-elimination Play-In Stage, where 16 teams competed to advance to the next stage and join the 8 directly invited teams. Of the 16 teams, only 8 could move on to the Group Stage: MOUZ, Fnatic, Astralis, Monte, The MongolZ, OG, 9ine, and Ninjas in Pyjamas.

The Group Stage featured two double-elimination groups of eight teams each, with the top three teams per group advancing to the playoffs. MOUZ and Astralis stood out, with MOUZ taking down the titan NAVI early in the Upper Bracket, and Astralis recovering from an initial loss to G2 Esports to move through the Lower Bracket matches.

The Playoffs Stage featured a single-elimination bracket, with the six qualified teams vying for the title at the Cathedral of Counter-Strike. G2 Esports emerged as the champions of IEM Cologne 2023, defeating ENCE 3-1 in the grand final. This victory made G2 the third team in history to win Katowice and Cologne in the same year.

The IEM Cologne 2025 tournament is set to take place from July 23 to August 3, with the world's top teams once again gathering at the Cathedral of Counter-Strike to etch their names in the history of this prestigious event.

G2 Esports winning the 2023 title

The Intel Extreme Masters (IEM) Cologne 2023 tournament saw G2 Esports crowned champions after a thrilling series of matches. Over ten days of competition, G2 Esports emerged as the winners, claiming the coveted IEM Cologne trophy and a $400,000 prize from the $1,000,000 total prize pool. The tournament, held in the iconic Lanxess Arena in Cologne, Germany, featured 24 of the best Counter-Strike: Global Offensive (CS:GO) teams from around the world.

G2 Esports' road to the title began in the Play-in Stage, where they battled it out with 15 other teams for one of the top eight spots. Advancing to the Group Stage, G2 Esports faced off against strong competitors, ultimately securing their spot in the live Playoffs. The Playoffs saw intense matches, with G2 Esports dominating their opponents and advancing to the final game of the competition.

The Grand Final was an electrifying best-of-five series against ENCE. G2 Esports took an early lead, winning the first two rounds. ENCE mounted a comeback in the third round but ultimately fell short, with G2 Esports closing out the series with a 3-1 victory. This win marked G2 Esports' second ESL Pro Tour (EPT) Championship title of the year, having previously secured the IEM Katowice trophy earlier in 2023.

G2 Esports' victory at IEM Cologne 2023 was a testament to their skill, strategy, and perseverance. The team's success was further highlighted by the impressive individual performances of its players, with Rifler Nikola "NiKo" Kovač taking home the EPT DHL MVP award. G2 Esports' triumph solidified their place in the history of IEM Cologne, leaving their mark on one of the most prestigious and traditional esports tournaments in the world.

IEM Cologne 2023 viewership statistics

Overview

IEM Cologne 2023, with its $1,000,000 prize pool, ended on 6 August and is considered the main summer event in CS:GO. It is the most popular non-major CS:GO tournament of 2023, ranking second in Peak Viewers, only surpassed by the Paris Major. In terms of total hours watched and average viewers, it surpassed all previous championships held in Cologne.

Teams

24 teams from around the world competed in three stages: Play-In, Group Stage, and Playoffs. There were some unexpected results, including the early elimination of Team Liquid, a top North American team, which didn't make it past the Play-In stage. FaZe Clan and Natus Vincere also didn't advance beyond the Group Stage, despite regularly reaching the Playoffs in major tournaments, and playing in the IEM Cologne 2022 Grand Final. Heroic, currently ranked first globally by HLTV.org, also underperformed, losing to Astralis in the Danish derby. Astralis was the only team to advance from Play-In to the Playoffs semifinals.

Six teams reached the final stage: Team Vitality, Cloud9, Heroic, Astralis, ENCE, and G2 Esports. G2 Esports defeated ENCE 3-1 in the final match, receiving $400,000 and a spot in IEM Katowice 2024. NiKo was named tournament MVP.

Viewership Numbers

The IEM Cologne 2023 matches accumulated 29.5 million hours watched, with an average of 291.8K viewers during broadcasts and a peak viewership of 727.4K. The Grand Final was the tournament's most popular match, with 200K more peak viewers than the semifinals.

Popular Teams

The Top 5 most popular teams of IEM Cologne 2023, based on average viewers per match, included four representatives of the Playoffs and one team from the Group Stage. The leader had approximately 77K more average viewers than the others. 9INE and The MongolZ set personal records for hours watched, including majors, and ENCE broke records for hours watched, average and peak viewers at non-major tournaments.

Broadcast Channels and Platforms

The tournament was covered on over 100 unique channels, including official broadcasts and community caster streams. The most popular languages were English, Portuguese, and Russian. A record was also set for the Burmese language, with two Facebook broadcasts reaching a combined 573 peak viewers. Twitch accumulated 4.5 times more hours watched than YouTube, with separate channels on Facebook Gaming and Kick also covering the tournament.

Comparison to Other Tournaments

IEM Cologne 2023 was the second tournament by Peak Viewers in 2023, surpassed twice by the BLAST.tv Paris Major. It ranked third in peak viewership compared to previous tournaments in Cologne, behind the 2021 and 2022 championships. The peak viewership of IEM Cologne 2023 dropped by approximately 42% compared to IEM Cologne 2022, likely due to the different finalists and less suspense in the final match. However, IEM Cologne 2023 surpassed IEM Cologne 2022 in total hours watched and average viewers.

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