ESL increases Club Reward amount for IEM China 2026

Esports tournament organiser ESL has announced that it will adjust its Club Rewards amount for 2026’s Intel Extreme Masters (IEM) China.

The $250,000 (~£186,000) Club Reward that was initially allocated to IEM Major Cologne will instead be moved to China, increasing the Counter-Strike 2 event’s Club Reward to $950,000 (~£708,000).

In a blog post online, ESL explained that the reasoning was because IEM Cologne is designated as a Major in the 2026 season. As such, total winnings for such events are determined by the game’s developer, Valve.

The 2026 IEM Cologne Major features $1.25m (~£929,000) in prize pool funds, but does not feature Club Rewards for participating teams. As a result, IEM China’s prize pool has increased from the previous $1m (~£743,000).

Following this, the prize distribution has been altered accordingly. The winning team will earn $125,000 (~£92,900) in prize money alongside $235,000 (~£175,000) in Club Rewards, runner-up will earn $50,000 (~£37,150) in winnings and $160,000 (~£118,900) in Club Rewards, and the team placed third will earn $30,000 (~£22,300) and $130,000 (~£96,590) in Club Rewards.

In total, ESL is still offering $3.8m (~£2.8m) in Club Rewards for organisations attending the seven annual sanctioned events in the 2026 season.

IEM China will take place as an offline event near the end of the competitive season, scheduled for November 2nd to 8th, 2026.

The competition will see 13 invited teams from the Valve Regional Standings as of August 2026: including one from North America, one from South America, one from Asia, and 10 from the Global standings. Additionally, two teams will advance from the Global Qualifier, and the final spot will be filled by the winning team from the Asian Qualifier.

IEM China will be divided into two stages. The tournament will kick off with a Group Stage featuring two GSL groups of eight teams competing in separate double elimination formats. The best teams will advance to the single-elimination bracket Playoffs, concluding with a best-of-five Grand Final.