Customer story

PGL delivered historic CS2 major powered by Challengermode technology

The PGL Major Copenhagen 2024, the first-ever Counter-strike 2 (CS2) major, boasted a US$1,250,000 prize pool and broke previous viewership records with 1.85 million peak concurrent viewers during the grand final. This made it the third-most watched Counter-Strike event ever and catapulted the game into a new era.

1,8m

Peak concurrent viewers

58,3m

Hours watched

105h

Total airtime

Company

PGL Esports is a leading esports event organizer known for hosting some of the most prestigious gaming tournaments worldwide. Founded in 2002 and bas... See morepglesports.com

Location

Bucharest, Romania

Industry

Esports

Key features used

CS2 IntegrationEnterprise SpaceHub SpaceShow all

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The problem

PGL needed a platform partner that could meet the following critical criteria: support for the newly released CS2, global availability, particularly in Europe, Asia, and America, and the capability to operate entirely offline. The platform also needed comprehensive functionality for managing all competition stages, including online-hosted open qualifiers, closed qualifiers in Bucharest, Shanghai, and Monterrey, and the grand final at the Royal Arena in Copenhagen. Additionally, it had to comply with Valve’s stringent requirements and the major supplemental rulebook, as well as integrate live data from third-party services, including global and local news outlets and sportsbooks.

A platform built for every stage of the Major

Challengermode offers all-encompassing solutions for high-profile online and on-site esports tournaments. As the official tournament and in-game broadcast platform partner for the PGL Major Copenhagen 2024, Challengermode provided PGL with an out-of-the-box solution optimized for both open online qualifiers, the RMRs and the live finals in Royal Arena in Copenhagen.

PGL Copenhagen Major 2024 CS2 tournament

The on-site solution was designed to be portable and work completely disconnected from the internet, to prevent any kind of hiccups caused by sabotage and network outages that can occur during a live production event.The flexibility of the product being available online on a global scale, and also as a portable solution for the live events was a perfect fit for PGL. An advertisable and engaging hub online for the open qualifiers and a portable on-site solution for the closed qualifiers and grand finals that required high reliability and security.The following was packaged into the final solution used for the first CS2 major:

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Dedicated Space

A fully dedicated and customizable space for PGL to advertise and communicate its open qualifiers and engage with fans and players looking to watch and play

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Tournament Tools & Automation

Solution tailored to CS2 and the administrative workflows of hosting a major, simplifying the management of complex tournament scheduling and orchestration from open qualifiers to the finals.

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Live Data Integration

Real-time data delivery to third-party services like news outlets, sportsbooks and other live services all across the world

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Live Private Spectating

Easy management of in-game spectating at different delays to meet various demands of live production on Twitch, YouTube and other streaming services

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Live Public Broadcast

Fast and globally available streaming service provided directly within CS2 main menu for anyone to watch and for community broadcasters to cover the games

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Anti-cheat

Provided advanced kernel-level ring0 anti-cheat technology through our partners to ensure competitive integrity and a level playing field

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Experienced Admins & Technical Second-line Support

A team of expert CS2 admins to ensure players got the help they needed during the massive open qualifiers and always-on technical second-line support to handle any situation.

This approach streamlined the logistics of a complex multi-stage international tournament, enhancing the experience for all involved. With Challengermode's advanced platform and dedicated team, PGL could focus on delivering top-notch esports production.

1.85 million peak viewers and a new CS2 era

The major managed to break multiple new records and became the third most viewed major across all versions of Counter-Strike, reaching a staggering 1.8 million concurrent viewers, 58 million hours watched and over 105 hours of total airtime.