Striker reveals why several teams skipped PGL Cluj-Napoca

Top teams such as Spirit, Natus Vincere, G2, Vitality, and Liquid have chosen to skip PGL Cluj-Napoca, a $1,250 million tournament that kicks off days after IEM Katowice 2025 concludes. According to HLTV's Editor-in-Chief Milan "Striker" Švejda, this decision has to do with the way PGL monetized the event.

"We know that the top teams are not happy with PGL just putting everything in the prizepool," Striker said in the latest episode of HLTV Confirmed.

"We're seeing the results of that. That's effectively what is happening here. They (the teams) wanted some revenue share and they didn't end up getting so they're skipping PGL."

Striker also highlighted that this decision to skip PGL could be "pretty disastrous" for teams such as Liquid and FURIA as they'll lose the opportunity to try climbing some points in the Valve Regional Standings (VRS). The HLTV Editor-in-Chief talked in depth about Liquid's situation in his column at HLTV.

While tournament organizers like ESL and BLAST do not put all the money directly into the prize pool, PGL has taken a different approach. Instead of splitting the money between revenue share for teams and prize pool for the players, PGL puts all the money in the prize pool for the organizations.

"It’s up to the organizations to decide how they use the money, whether for salaries, team development, recruiting, or operations," PGL's CEO Silviu Stroie wrote on X on January 30th.

"PGL is not going to dictate how teams should allocate their earnings. There are no complicated structures, no unnecessary requirements, just a fair system. We do not force organizations to compete in most of our events in order to be rewarded. We focus on delivering top-tier events, and we appreciate everyone who enjoys them."

PGL Cluj-Napoca will run from February 14th to 23rd.