Many Counter-Strike: Global Offensive tournaments for 2021 were scratched due to health concerns, but the new year looks bright. The prospects of a CSGO major are strong for 2022, though there are some definite concerns.
PGL Major Stockholm was the defining moment of 2021 as fans got to experience LAN after a lengthy stretch of online-only play. Everyone had their sights set on the biggest CSGO major to date. Fans are now looking forward to CSGO majors in 2022, but Valve hasn’t revealed any details yet.
When is the 2022 CSGO major?
The next CSGO major should theoretically happen in May 2022. The exact dates are currently unknown, but they would stand as huge events.
According to HLTV, Valve is planning to host not one but two majors in 2022. This is huge for devoted CSGO fans who’d longed for a LAN experience throughout the online era of esports. In 2021, many significant tournaments got shelved, leading to a dip in both CSGO’s popularity and player base.
However, the pieces are in place for CSGO esports to return to the fore. The two majors will occur in the first and second halves of 2022.
Both the majors will have separate RMR LAN events to filter out the best teams in Europe, CIS, North America, South America, and Asia-Oceania. These teams will then lock horns at a major international tournament. All of this will be streamed live for the viewers, and the event would likely be offline if things remain stable until late May. The RMR event for the first major would begin in April, so fans should expect an update any time soon.
Valve outsources majors to various third-party tournament organizers. It’s unclear who will run the next tournament. It could hypothetically be anyone, but ESL is likely the frontrunner after enduring the cancellation of the ESL One Rio Major in 2020. BLAST could be in the running as well after running a prominent CSGO league for multiple years, but there are other options in PGL getting two in a row and WePlay! has impressed with its recent developmental league and could take a step up.
The second CSGO major will happen in November with the same RMR LAN event format. The final date may vary depending on when the first major event occurs.
Both the events will positively impact CSGO’s frail state that continues to take hit after hit. The game’s player base is currently dipping, with popularity on an all-time low. Blast Fall Finals and PGL Stockholm were CSGO’s crutches in 2021, and fans are hopeful that CSGO majors in 2022 will help the game regain its lost momentum.Â
Obviously, there is cause for concern with these events. Travel restrictions are very possible and Dota 2 just recently saw Valve scrap the first major of the season. CSGO majors could go down without issue, but it’s also possible that things might go awry.
Who won CSGO major 2021?
The PGL Major Stockholm was won by Natus Vincere with a 2-0 victory over G2 Esports, earning $1,000,000 for their performance. This was also Oleksandr “s1mple” Kostyliev’s first major win, with the Ukrainian ending the year as the best CSGO player in 2021.Â
