BLAST Premier Reveals Revamped 2027 Format: $10M Investment, Expanded Calendar and More LAN Matches
BLAST has today announced a major evolution of the BLAST Premier circuit for 2027, delivering a bold new chapter for competitive Counter-Strike.
From increased financial commitment to teams, to a LAN-focused competitive structure with stronger Valve Regional Standings implications, BLAST Premier has redesigned the format to benefit teams, players and fans. The changes will take effect from the start of the 2027 Counter-Strike season.
2027 Event Dates
- BLAST Premier Event 1 - 13th - 24th January (Schengen)
- BLAST Premier Event 2 - 15th - 28th March (TBA)
- BLAST Premier Event 3 - 10th - 23rd May (TBA)
- BLAST Premier Event 4 - 30th August - 12th September (TBA)
- BLAST Premier Event 5 - 4th - 17th October (Rio De Janeiro, Brazil)
- BLAST Premier Event 6 - 8th - 14th November (TBA)
Anne Banschbach, Programme Director for BLAST Premier, said:
“We are evolving BLAST Premier to better serve the entire Counter-Strike ecosystem.
Increasing our investment to $10 million is not just about bigger prize pools, it is about revamping our formats to deliver a more sustainable and premium experience for teams, players and fans.
“With a fully LAN-focused structure, stronger VRS impact and the removal of main event online matches, the biggest moments will play out on the biggest stages.
With more open qualifiers, we’re increasing routes into the BLAST ecosystem for teams across the board. We are also introducing acceptance fees and investing further into team hospitality and player experience, while delivering an expanded calendar and 50 additional broadcast hours for fans.
This is about raising the standard across every level of the ecosystem.”
A $10 Million Commitment to Teams and Ecosystem Growth
In 2027, BLAST will invest $10 million USD directly into teams and the Counter-Strike ecosystem, up from $8.5 million in 2026.
This increase reinforces BLAST’s long-term commitment to sustainable growth, competitive integrity and financial stability across the scene.
BLAST events now move to a new system with compensation split into three key areas: prize money and Team Payment (the prize pool), a new mechanic, dubbed ‘acceptance fees’ and an investment into improved Player Experience.
In 2027 BLAST will be investing $10million USD into teams split across these areas. All events will feature $1.25m prize pools for maximum VRS and variable acceptance fees for teams attending events.
Here’s a brief breakdown of those mechanisms:
- Prize Money: Awarded based on tournament placement and typically distributed to players, contributing directly to Valve Regional Standings. Across the 2027 season this totals $3M USD.
- Team Payment: Awarded based on tournament performance and typically retained by organisations, also contributing to VRS. Across the 2027 season this totals $4.5M USD.
- Acceptance Fees: A new participation incentive distributed to organisations upon accepting event invitations, based on the strength a team has in the VRS at the time of invitation. This provides direct event-by-event compensation rather than season-long commitments. Acceptance fees do not contribute to VRS. Across the 2027 season this totals $1.8M USD.
- Team Experience investment: BLAST will also be investing an additional $700,000 into elevating player experience across the season, ensuring world-class conditions match world-class competition.
The addition of the Acceptance fees will see each event have additional participation incentive.
Instead of season long commitments being rewarded, teams will now receive direct compensation for event participation.
This allows BLAST to reward teams more consistently and quickly compared to the previous frequent flier programme, helping to make the ecosystem more sustainable for teams.
Team experience investment will allow BLAST to further elevate teams’ experiences whilst participating at events across the globe. The investment will go towards improved lodgings at events and improved travel conditions to events to reduce the travel strain a dense global calendar creates.
A Stronger, More LAN-Focused Competitive Format
The 2027 season will deliver a more LAN-centric structure, reducing online matches and increasing competitive weight across in-arena events.
Key format changes include:
- Bounty streamlined from 32 to 16 teams
- Entire Bounty event played on LAN
- Open Week 1 moving to a hotel/studio LAN environment
- More regional open qualifiers across the year
- An additional week of play added to the overall season
These changes significantly strengthen VRS implications and ensure more high-stakes Counter-Strike is played in premium competitive environments.
BLAST Premier Bounty
Following the implementation of BLAST Bounty in both 2025 and the first event in 2026, BLAST Bounty will undergo a redesign to further enhance the competitive nature of the event.
The main change is event size, reducing BLAST Bounty from 32 teams to 16. The reduced field will now play the entire event on LAN, removing the previous first week of online play which had reduced VRS weighting.
Drafting formats and new Bounty prize money mechanisms will also be announced in a more in-depth Bounty breakdown in the coming days.
Bounty will also feature a new path into the event alongside VRS invites, with Regional Qualifiers in Europe, Asia and both North and South America. Each region will consist of four invites and four open qualifier slots.
BLAST Premier Open
BLAST Open will remain a two week event, taking place on LAN and leading up to large-scale arena events across the globe.
In line with 2025 and 2026, the top-12 teams in the Valve Global Rankings will receive direct invites and four teams will qualify via Regional Qualifiers in Europe, North America, South America and Asia. Each region consists of four invites and four open qualifier slots.
The first week will continue to be played on LAN with adjusted travel days to reduce the dark day gap between weeks one and two of matchplay. At its core the competitive format for Open remains the same, bringing BLAST production to the biggest stages around the world.
BLAST Premier Rivals
BLAST Rivals will remain the crowning jewel of the BLAST Premier calendar like we saw in Hong Kong in 2025. A wildcard competition featuring the best of the best teams, elite competition and roaring crowds.
Rivals will retain the similar format of eight teams, featuring the pinnacle of competition all playing out on the big stage. The prize pool will be increased to the maximum $1.25m USD for maximum VRS, with 13 matches playing out over five days of action.
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