Thunderpick World Championship returns for 2025

Esports betting platform Thunderpick announced the return of the Thunderpick World Championship (TWC) for 2025, offering a total prize pool of $1m (~£764,000).

Alongside announcing its return, Thunderpick also committed to a continued championship in 2026 and are dedicated to making the Counter-Strike tournament an annual event for years to come.

“As we head into our third year of the TWC, our mission remains clear: to provide a world-class tournament experience for players and fans alike,” said Kelly Sanders, Head of Strategy at Thunderpick. “With our 2025 plans underway and 2026 already in motion, we’re proud to continue investing in the future of CS2.”

The TWC will return with regional series events in three regions: North America, South America and Europe. The best teams from these regions will then compete in the Tier 1 LAN Final in Malta, running from October 15th-19th, 2025 and offering $850,000 in winnings.

The 2025 championship will be presented by Hotspawn, an esports news site, and will run from April to October 2025. They also shared that all matches will be broadcast live on the official Thunderpick Twitch channel.

This is the full TWC schedule for 2025:

Sophie McCarthy, Hotspawn Editor in Chief, said: “We’re delighted to be partnering with the Thunderpick World Championship, an event that is fast becoming one of the most exciting in the Counter-Strike calendar.

“This partnership is a huge milestone for Hotspawn as we go all in on the biggest tournaments and we’re excited to bring our community even closer to the action.”

This will mark the third year for the tournament, after first hosting the event in 2023. Last year’s TWC saw 16 of the best teams around the world compete head to head at the Berlin LVL World of Gaming venue, and has built a reputation for being one of the ‘highest sponsored’ tournaments by a bookmaker in the Counter-Strike scene.