After a false start in 2023, Asia might finally get a shot at hosting a Counter-Strike Major next year with Chinese tournament organizer Perfect World set to partner with PGL for a 2024 application to Valve.
With PGL already securing the rights to host the first CS Major of 2024 in Copenhagen, Denmark next March, it is understood the organizer wants to get their hands on December’s tournament too and will link up with Perfect World to bring CS2 to Shanghai, China in December according to CS news site HLTV.
Plans to host a Valve-sponsored event in China date back to 2022 when Perfect World found themselves in a race against BLAST to host the second Major of 2023. BLAST would ultimately win that race, with the organizer opting to take the coveted tournament to Paris, France.
The news comes following Valve’s July 19 decision to move Majors to the end of each competitive season—a move welcomed by both the playing group and the community. Previously held in May and October, Valve’s pinnacle tournaments fell awkwardly in the middle of each season. Now, starting in 2024, the player break will begin the moment the Major ends.
Related: Valve is officially changing when Majors take place in CS2
Interestingly, Valve’s Major guidelines call for host regions to show previous successful iterations of events as well as a schedule convenient with European timezones—around 4pm to 9pm CEST. The last large-scale tournament to be hosted in China was IEM Beijing in 2019, with Australia seeing both ESL Challenger and IEM-level events return post-COVID in 2022 and 2023.
Having the event held in China—or any country in Asia or Oceania, for that matter—would struggle to satisfy the schedule requirement. The Major would need to run as late as possible to cater to a European audience, which would in turn impact fans on-site.
Nevertheless, should Perfect World secure the Major for Shanghai, it would be a massive boost for CS as a whole in Asia, specifically China, and especially so given it would be the second Major in CS2 following Copenhagen.
Likewise, PGL has plenty to gain by partnering and co-hosting the tournament in Shanghai. The organizer has previous experience running events in China, including a partnership with Perfect World for the CS:GO Asia Championships in 2018 as well as Dota 2’s 2019 edition of The International.
The second Major of 2024 is set to begin Dec. 1, with regional qualifiers for the yet-to-be-announced tournament locked in for October and November.
