BLAST Bounty Season 1 2026 will kick off the new CS2 year as the first tier-one tournament of the season, with all 32 participating teams now officially confirmed. The event is placed just ahead of IEM Krakow, the new location for the former IEM Katowice, making it an important early test for the world’s best teams.
Teams and invites
The tournament features 28 teams qualified directly through the VRS ranking, while four wildcard spots have been handed to Ninjas in Pyjamas, Virtus.pro, NRG, and Imperial.
Among the confirmed teams are Vitality, FaZe, NAVI, Team Spirit, Falcons, Astralis, FURIA, Heroic, Team Liquid, and Fnatic, alongside several rising and regional contenders.
Bounty format explained
BLAST Bounty uses a unique format designed to give lower-seeded teams more control over their path through the tournament. The lowest-seeded teams get to choose their opponents from the seeded teams in the early rounds.
The risk–reward element comes from the bounty system. The higher the seed you choose to face, the bigger the bounty attached to that opponent. Lower-seeded teams can either challenge a top favorite for a larger reward, or pick a theoretically easier matchup with a smaller payout. This structure encourages bold decisions and creates high-stakes matchups right from the opening rounds.
Schedule and location
Play-ins will be played online from January 12 to January 18. The top teams from that phase will advance to the Final 8, which runs from January 22 to January 25 at the BLAST studio in Malta, MT.
Prize pool
BLAST Bounty Season 1 2026 has a total prize pool of $1,150,000, including guaranteed club shares for all teams.
With elite teams, a distinctive format, and prime placement on the calendar, BLAST Bounty Season 1 2026 sets the tone for the competitive year and offers an immediate glimpse at who could carry momentum into IEM Krakow.
