CS2 officially hits FACEIT platform with $100,000 in prizes, path to pro

The launch of Counter-Strike 2 represents more than just the new era of an iconic tactical first-person shooter. It’s also a new chapter and potentially the first chapter for the game’s most competitive players and its aspiring pros. On the FACEIT platform, where many hone their Counter-Strike skills, CS2 is officially live and playable on a new seasonal system.

Season one of CS2 on FACEIT has officially launched and will culminate in “FPL Proving Grounds,” which will boast the “highest prize pool ever awarded in a public matchmaking system” according to an official press release: $100,000. The 125 top players in Challenger, the new top rank, from Europe, North America, and South America will be invited to regional Proving Ground events.

Most importantly, the three top players at the end of FPL Proving Grounds will receive a direct invite to the FACEIT Pro League, the in-house solo queue league for the absolute best players in the system that features numerous pros and over $50,000 in monthly prizes. The top players will actually be voted on by “CS legends, player participants, and the community.” The players who reach the FPL via Proving Grounds will also earn a monthly stipend to support them on their path to reaching the highest pro levels of Counter-Strike.

Prior to the formation of Proving Grounds path-to-pro, FACEIT has been a sort of unofficial proving ground for a number of standout pro players, claiming to have optimized the “path to pro environment that supported stars such as Mathieu “ZywOo” Herbaut, Robin “ropz” Kool, and Ilya “m0NESY” Osipov.” M0NESY, now a rising star with G2 Esports, ended the CS:GO era on FACEIT with the highest Elo rating.

Season one of FACEIT CS2 will run for four months, with each new season starting with a “soft-Elo recalibration.”