FISSURE Playground 3

Suzhou is calling. The Counter-Strike 2 competitive calendar turns its eyes to the SND Cultural and Sports Centre this September as the anticipated FISSURE Playground 3 finally arrives. Reborn from earlier scheduling ashes and now charged by a fresh joint venture with local production company GGMEDIA, this top-tier Chinese LAN is bringing out the big guns.

Tournament Overview

Livestream

[TBA]

Participating Teams

The top 15 teams on the VRS ranking have been invited for the event. If all teams accept the invitation, the team list will look like this. There is room for one Asian qualifier to fill one of the 16 available slots in the tournament. We will update this list when the teams competing at the tournaments have been announced.

Tournament news

• A Fresh Start: The tournament successfully navigated past a previous logistical nightmare involving an IEM Rio overlap in April. Organizers found a new home in Suzhou for early September, providing teams with ample travel time and avoiding grueling back to back flights.
• Local Expertise: By partnering with production house GGMEDIA, FISSURE is ensuring the broadcast hits all the right notes for both the massive domestic Chinese audience and international viewers tuning in from abroad.
• Financials Secured: To put community concerns to rest, FISSURE’s leadership recently confirmed they are using their new strategic backing to clear outstanding team payments from previous events, promising a clean slate ahead of the Suzhou showdown.

Schedule:

Dates: September 8, 2026 to September 13, 2026

In CST:

• TBD vs TBD – TBA
• TBD vs TBD – TBA
• TBD vs TBD – TBA

Map Pool

Anubis, Ancient, Nukje, Inferno, Mirage, Dust2, Cache

Format

Group Stage (September 8 – 11, 2026)

The action begins with a punishing double elimination bracket where all sixteen teams are split into two groups of eight. Every single clash in this phase is a Best of 3, meaning squads will need true depth in their map vetoes to survive. Dropping two series results in a swift exit, while the most resilient rosters will secure their passage to the main arena stage.

Playoffs (September 12 – 13, 2026)

The surviving heavyweights will advance to a high stakes, single elimination playoff bracket. The margin for error vanishes entirely as teams fight through Best of 3 quarterfinals and semifinals. It all culminates in a spectacular Grand Final to ultimately crown the champion of Suzhou.

Prize Pool Distribution

The $1,000,000 USD total is creatively split, dedicating a $450,000 slice directly to the players while the remainder is allocated for organizational club shares. Here is how the player purse will be distributed among the top finishers.