IEM Rio to feature CS2 Showmatch

Over the weekend, ESL announced a Counter-Strike 2 showmatch that will take place on Sunday, April 23rd during IEM Rio 2023.

The match is scheduled to take place before the grand final of the event, which is being held once more in the Jeunesse Arena in Rio de Janeiro, the same arena that just hosted the Major in November of last year.

The match's lineups have not been set, but ESL has announced a theme of "Brasil vs the World", so we could see a squad of Brazilians taking on players from teams that have been eliminated prior to the Grand Final. With only Dust2 available to play so far in the limited test, that will likely be the map on which the showmatch takes place.

Unveiled on March 22, Valve announced Counter-Strike 2 through three separate videos which detailed the new features, new smoke mechanics, and map redesigns. The community has already been in a fervor searching game files for any hints as to what will come.

IEM Rio has already kicked off, with North America's two representatives in MIBR and FURIA participating in their first matches later this afternoon.