Asian Champions League to Have a $150,000 CS2 Tournament in 2026

Hero Esports, the tournament organizer behind the Asian Champions League, announced a special event in 2026. Asian CS2 fans will have the chance to watch some of the best teams compete for a $150,000 prize. Here’s everything you need to know.

CS2 Asian Championship League 2026 – Overview

According to our information, the ACL 2026 CS2 will start in May 2026 and have a $150,000 prize pool. The tournament will have Open Qualifiers, but they won’t focus on the European or NA CS2 scene. Instead, the qualifiers will only be open to teams from SEA, Oceania, and China. 

Following the quals, which will be between January and March, 11 teams will advance to the Closed Qualifiers. The latter will take place in China and will be held between April 29 and May 3, 2026.

After the Closed Qualifiers are over, the teams that advance to the event and the top 16 from the Asian Valve Regional Standings will receive an invitation to the actual tournament. Speaking of the devil, the Asian Championship League 2026 will be a LAN competition taking place between May 11th and 17th. 

The Tournament So Far

Counter-Strike 2 fans remember that the first edition of the Asian Champions League was held in May and attracted teams from around APAC. Following an epic battle, TYLOO won the event, securing $100,000 and a slot for the Esports World Cup. 

That said, the first ACL tournament was a bit different because it had a prize pool of $300,000. We do not know if the 2026 ACL will also grant an Esports World Cup spot, but considering this has been the case so far, we expect the same.

The Tournament Dates 

Even though there are more than 10 months until the Asian Champions League 2026, some fans expressed their concerns regarding the schedule. Based on the dates we have, the PGL Astana will be held between May 9 to 17, whereas IEM will be between May 11 to 17. This is very challenging for some of the big teams, such as TYLOO and FlyQuest, because they take part in the Tier 1 events and will have to choose where to go.

If some of the big teams decide to focus on the more popular events, we may see loads of lesser-known CS2 clubs at ACL. There is still time left, so we will have to wait and see what will happen.