ESL Announces IEM Rio 2022 CS:GO Major, Begins Oct. 31

Intel Extreme Masters Rio 2022 will be the second Counter-Strike: Global Offensive Major of the year and the first to take place in Brazil and South America, ESL announced Tuesday.

Confirming reports made by Dexerto in January, and making up for ESL One: Rio Major 2020 being canceled in September 2020, tickets are now on sale for IEM Rio 2022.

"We are excited to finally bring the first Valve CS:GO Major Championship to South America and Brazil with Intel Extreme Masters Rio," ESL's announcement blog reads. "We can’t wait to welcome fans in the Jeunesse Arena and write Counter-Strike history together!"

Qualification for IEM Rio will go through the traditional Regional Major Ranking series. IEM Road to Rio will take place from Oct. 3 to Oct. 9th and span three regions: Europe, America and Asia.

From Oct. 31 to Nov. 13, the 24 qualified teams will then compete for the chance to be the winner of the first CS:GO Major in South America and a large share of the $1,000,000 prize pool.

The competition will be broken down into three stages, Challengers, Legends and Champions.

The Champions stage of the competition will take place in the Jeunesse Arena from Nov. 10 to Nov. 13, where eight teams will compete in a single-elimination playoff bracket in front of a live crowd.

For those who bought a ticket for ESL One: Rio Major 2020 and decided to keep it instead of refunding it, those tickets are said to be automatically still valid for the same days and categories of IEM Rio 2022.

The in-arena commentary for IEM Rio 2022 will be held in the local hosting country's native language of Portuguese Brazilian.

More information on the Rio Major can be found on ESL's website.