IEM Katowice is a highly prestigious and renowned tournament in the CS:GO community, with only the Majors and IEM Cologne being its equals. In 2023, top-notch Counter-Strike action will take place at the Spodek Arena, where the champion will receive a significant portion of the $1 million prize pool and a spot in IEM Cologne.
The tournament will gather 24 teams from across the globe, including 17 of the current top 20 ranked teams. Out of these, eight teams will be directly invited to the group stage while the remaining 16 teams will compete in the Play-In stage to secure the remaining eight slots in the main tournament.
IEM Katowice 2023 Schedule
The IEM Katowice tournament will commence with the Play-In Stage, featuring 16 teams battling it out in a double-elimination bracket. The initial matches will be played in a best-of-one format, while subsequent rounds will be best-of-three series.
The top eight teams will move on to the group stage, where they will meet the eight teams selected by ESL based on their global rankings. The 16 teams will be divided into two GSL groups, with the top three teams from each group advancing to the single-elimination playoffs, held at the Spodek Arena. The tournament will reach its climax on February 12th with a best-of-five grand final.
IEM Katowice 2023: Participating Teams and Players
IEM Katowice 2023 will showcase top teams from regions including Europe, Asia, Oceania, and the Americas. The majority of participating teams have been selected based on ESL’s world ranking, while only two teams have qualified through events (Fnatic by winning Elisa Masters Espoo and Permitta by clinching ESL Mistrzostwa Polski Autumn).
This Polish tournament will provide a stage for several new teams to make their debut. These include Cloud9, who recently added Timur ‘buster’ Tulepov to their roster, and IEM Rio Major champions Outsiders, who recently signed 18-year-old Aleksandr ‘KaiR0N-‘ Anashkin. Additionally, Sprout will attend their first LAN tournament with Romanian AWPer Adrian ‘XELLOW’ Guță, who has already played for the team in online matches.
How to watch IEM Katowice 2023
IEM Katowice 2023 will be streamed on both Twitch and Youtube this year, with main stage (A) and backup (B) channels.
Find the Twitch streams and YouTube streams for Katowice 2023 here:
- Twitch A: https://www.twitch.tv/esl_csgo
- Twitch B: https://www.twitch.tv/esl_csgob
- Youtube A: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WblnlNpKnXM
- Youtube B: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=A7GB15fSy1A
Play-In (February 1-3)
Day 1: February 1
Stage | Match | PT | ET | GMT |
Upper Round 1 | Cloud9 vs IHC | 2 AM | 5 AM | 10 AM |
Upper Round 1 | ENCE vs paiN | 2 AM | 5 AM | 10 AM |
Upper Round 1 | MIBR vs NIP | 3:15 AM | 6:15 AM | 11:15 AM |
Upper Round 1 | Spirit vs Grayhound | 3:15 AM | 6:15 AM | 11:15 AM |
Upper Round 1 | Sprout vs OG | 4:30 AM | 7:30 AM | 12:30 PM |
Upper Round 1 | Fnatic vs EG | 4: 30 AM | 7:30 AM | 12:30 PM |
Upper Round 1 | BIG vs Complexity | 5:45 AM | 8:45 AM | 1:45 PM |
Upper Round 1 | FURIA vs Permitta | 5:45 AM | 8:45 AM | 1:45 PM |
Upper Round 2 | TBD vs TBD * | 7 AM | 10 AM | 3 PM |
Upper Round 2 | TBD vs TBD * | 7 AM | 10 AM | 3 PM |
Upper Round 2 | TBD vs TBD * | 10:30 AM | 1:30 PM | 6:30 PM |
Upper Round 2 | TBD vs TBD * | 10:30 AM | 1:30 PM | 6:30 PM |
Day 2: February 2
Stage | Match | PT | ET | GMT |
Lower Round 1 | TBD vs TBD | 7 AM | 10 AM | 3 PM |
Lower Round 1 | TBD vs TBD | 7 AM | 10 AM | 3 PM |
Lower Round 1 | TBD vs TBD | 10:30 AM | 1:30 PM | 6:30 PM |
Lower Round 1 | TBD vs TBD | 10:30 AM | 1:30 PM | 6:30 PM |
Day 3: February 3
Stage | Match | PT | ET | GMT |
Lower Round 2 | TBD vs TBD * | 7 AM | 10 AM | 3 PM |
Lower Round 2 | TBD vs TBD * | 7 AM | 10 AM | 3 PM |
Lower Round 2 | TBD vs TBD * | 10:30 AM | 1:30 PM | 6:30 PM |
Lower Round 2 | TBD vs TBD * | 10:30 AM | 1:30 PM | 6:30 PM |
Group Stage (February 4-7)
Day 1: February 4
Stage | Match | PT | ET | GMT |
Group A U. 1 | TBD vs TBD | 3:30 AM | 6:30 AM | 11:30 AM |
Group A U. 1 | TBD vs TBD | 3:30 AM | 6:30 AM | 11:30 AM |
Group A U. 1 | TBD vs TBD | 7 AM | 10 AM | 3 PM |
Group A U. 1 | TBD vs TBD | 7 AM | 10 AM | 3 PM |
Group B U. 1 | TBD vs TBD | 10:30 AM | 1:30 PM | 6:30 PM |
Group B U. 1 | TBD vs TBD | 10:30 AM | 1:30 PM | 6:30 PM |
Day 2: February 5
Stage | Match | PT | ET | GMT |
Group B U. 1 | TBD vs TBD | 3:30 AM | 6:30 AM | 11:30 AM |
Group B U. 1 | TBD vs TBD | 3:30 AM | 6:30 AM | 11:30 AM |
Group A U. 2 | TBD vs TBD | 7 AM | 10 AM | 3 PM |
Group A L. 1 | TBD vs TBD | 7 AM | 10 AM | 3 PM |
Group A U. 2 | TBD vs TBD | 10:30 AM | 1:30 PM | 6:30 PM |
Group A L. 1 | TBD vs TBD | 10:30 AM | 1:30 PM | 6:30 PM |
Day 3: February 6
Stage | Match | PT | ET | GMT |
Group B L. 1 | TBD vs TBD | 3:30 AM | 6:30 AM | 11:30 AM |
Group B L. 1 | TBD vs TBD | 3:30 AM | 6:30 AM | 11:30 AM |
Group B U.2 | TBD vs TBD | 7 AM | 10 AM | 3 PM |
Group B U. 2 | TBD vs TBD | 7 AM | 10 AM | 3 PM |
Group A L. 2 | TBD vs TBD | 10:30 AM | 1:30 PM | 6:30 PM |
Group A L. 2 | TBD vs TBD | 10:30 AM | 1:30 PM | 6:30 PM |
Day 4: February 7
Stage | Match | PT | ET | GMT |
Group B L. 2 | TBD vs TBD | 3:30 AM | 6:30 AM | 11:30 AM |
Group B L. 2 | TBD vs TBD | 3:30 AM | 6:30 AM | 11:30 AM |
Group A U. 3 | TBD vs TBD | 7 AM | 10 AM | 3 PM |
Group A L. 3 | TBD vs TBD | 7 AM | 10 AM | 3 PM |
Group B U. 3 | TBD vs TBD | 10:30 AM | 1:30 PM | 6:30 PM |
Group B L. 3 | TBD vs TBD | 10:30 AM | 1:30 PM | 6:30 PM |
Playoffs (February 10-12)
Day 1: February 10
Stage | Match | PT | ET | GMT |
Quarter-finals | TBD vs TBD | 6:30 AM | 9:30 AM | 2:30 PM |
Quarter-finals | TBD vs TBD | 10 AM | 1 PM | 6 PM |
Day 2: February 11
Stage | Match | PT | ET | GMT |
Semi-finals | TBD vs TBD | 6:30 AM | 9:30 AM | 2:30 PM |
Semi-finals | TBD vs TBD | 10 AM | 1 PM | 6 PM |
Day 3: February 12
Stage | Match | PT | ET | GMT |
Grand final | TBD vs TBD | 7 AM | 10 AM | 3 PM |
The fun kicks off in less than 24 hours with Ence taking on Pain and Cloud9 vs IHC.
And don’t worry American Football fans, the grand final kicks off early enough at 10AM ET on Sunday February 12th so afterwards we won’t miss any of the Superbowl action.
Good luck to all teams!
Last Updated on February 1, 2023