Counter-Strike 2 IEM Cologne 2025 Begins With CS Servers Down After Completion of Two Matches

Intel Extreme Masters (IEM) Cologne 2025, a major esports tournament for Counter-Strike 2 (CS2), started on July 23, 2025.

The event featuring 24 top teams competing for a prize pool of $1 million will continue until Aug. 3, 2025.

In the opening matches that occurred simultaneously, GamerLegion defeated Complexity 2-0, and Virtus.pro took down Tyloo with the same score.

Unfortunately, in the heat of the tournament, CS’s servers went down and interrupted the matches between FlyQuest vs. Furia and Astralis vs. B8 Esports.

At the same time, Team Fortress 2’s servers crashed as well, while item inventories from other titles became unavailable on Steam.

IEM Cologne 2025 started with the play-in stage, which will continue from July 23 to July 25, 2025. This phase features a double-elimination bracket, where all matches are best-of-three. From here, eight teams will qualify for the next round.

The group stage will run from July 26 to July 29, 2025, and will consist of two groups of eight teams, each playing in a double-elimination GSL format. All matches remain best-of-three. The top three teams from each group will move on to the playoffs. The winners of each group will head straight to the semifinals. The second-place teams will enter the quarterfinals as high seeds, while the third-place teams will qualify as low seeds.

The playoffs will take place from Aug. 1 to Aug. 3, 2025, in a single-elimination bracket. The quarterfinals and semifinals will be played as best-of-three, and the grand final will be a best-of-five showdown.