ESL announces Katowice and Cologne tournament dates for 2023

Tournament operator ESL has announced the dates for the Intel Extreme Masters series championships in Katowice and Cologne for 2023. Taking into account the updated schedule of breaks for players, the tournaments have been moved relative to the previous values. Two LAN tournaments with a prize pool of $1,000,000 are scheduled for the period from January 31 to February 12 and from July 25 to August 6, respectively.

"I'm always honored to invite fans back to two of the most recognizable esports events around the world. We're already bubbling with excitement as we begin our annual planning for two of the most passionate esports events." - Sean Clarke, Senior Director of Gaming Ecosystems, CS:GO at ESL FACEIT Group

The dates shown mean that the Polish event will take place two weeks earlier than in 2022, while the German competition will take place two weeks later compared to the previous year's iteration.

The first on the list is traditionally IEM Katowice 2023. Next season, the organizers will hold the usual championship in Poland from January 31 to February 12 at the Spodek Arena.

In the summer, fans are waiting for IEM Cologne 2023, which will be held from July 25 to August 6 at the LANXESS arena. Remarkably, the winner of the Katowice tournament automatically guarantees participation in IEM Cologne 2023.

Both events offer the same format: 16 participants start from the Play-In stage, from where exactly half advance to the group stage. Here, 8 qualified teams will join the invited participants, with whom they will compete for six spots in the playoffs.

Stage

IEM Katowice 2023

IEM Cologne 2023

play-in

January 31 - February 1

July 25-26

Group stage

February 2-5

July 27-30

Playoffs

February 10-12

August 4-6