Asian Champions League CS2 tournament to give direct access to Esports World Cup

Chinese tournament organiser Hero Esports has confirmed that the winning team of the Asian Champions League (ACL) CS2 tournament will earn direct qualification to the 2025 Esports World Cup (EWC) in Riyadh.

The competition, set to take place across various venues in China, will feature open qualifiers, meaning that any team from the country can take part in the top-tier competition, bridging the gap between amateur and professional scenes.

Split into four stages, the open qualifiers will begin on February 15th until April 13th, followed by the Closed Qualifiers (April 17th-27th), the playoffs stage (May 6th-11th), and the Grand Finals on May 16th, which will take place live in Shanghai.

The winners will win a total of $100,000 (~£82,079) in prize money, with the remaining $200,000 (~£159,632) split between the other participants.

The winners of the Asian Champions League CS2 tournament will join 15 teams from the Valve Global Standings to compete in the Esports World Cup, featuring a prize pool of $1,250,000 (~£997,700). The winners will take home $500,000 (~£399,080).

In last year’s Esports World Cup, the selection process was made through a qualifier, where Mongolian esports organisation The MongolZ emerged victorious. According to data platform Liquipedia, the Esports World Cup CS2 tournament will take place from August 20th until August 24th.

Founded in 2016 and headquartered in Shanghai, the Asian Champions League is a multi-title esports tournament run by the Asia Champions League Foundation, a division within Hero Esports, one of the biggest tournament operators in Asia.

Announced in September 2024, the competition will feature up to 10 game titles in its inaugural edition, including Honor of King, Crossfire, and League of Legends, as well as a combined prize pool of 15m RMB (~£1.67m).

Danny Tang, Co-Founder and CEO of Hero Esports, commented: “Hero Esports created the Asian Champions League to bridge the gap between international tournaments and regional leagues, providing a clearer pathway for talented teams to compete on the global stage.

“The ACL’s continued collaboration with the Esports World Cup is an example of this vision becoming a reality, and it also represents Hero Esports’ commitment to shaping and empowering esports globally.”