IEM Dallas return confirmed for ESL Pro Tour 2025
ESL confirmed today that IEM Dallas will once again be a featured stop on next year's Pro Tour.
Dallas has hosted an Intel Extreme Masters event in 2022, 2023, and 2024; however, 2025 will be the first time the event will go without guaranteed spots to ESL partner teams. The shift to a more open ecosystem in 2025 means that for IEM Dallas and all events on the ESL Pro Tour, "all invites to qualifiers and main events will be based on the Valve Regional Standings."
Eight teams will receive a direct invite at Dallas based on their VRS standing, with the other eight determined through regional qualifiers. IEM Dallas and the other events on the ESL Pro Tour will also stop using best-of-one opening matches.
Aside from the changes to qualification and format, IEM Dallas will be a unique event in 2025, as it concludes just a few weeks before the start of the BLAST Austin Major, located just a three-hour drive away. For the top international teams, this could mean an extended stay in Texas across May and June. The Austin Major will be the first major not to use the traditional RMR formats, and it will be expanded to 32 teams.
