CS2 PGL Belgrade moved from Serbian 19k capacity arena to studio in Bucharest due to ‘unforeseen logistical challenges’

PGL CS2 trophy

Esports tournament organiser PGL has announced that the PGL Belgrade Counter-Strike 2 (CS2) tournament will no longer take part in Belgrade.

The event was set to take place in the 19k seater Belgrade Arena in the Serbian capital in October this year, but will now be held in PGL’s own studio in Bucharest, Romania — likely without a crowd.

PGL didn’t go into much detail about why this move was made, stating the change was “due to unforeseen logistical challenges.”

The statement then continued: “We remain incredibly excited about the PGL format and are committed to delivering an unforgettable experience for players and fans alike.”

PGL revealed that the tournament, its final CS2 event of 2025, has now been renamed to PGL Masters Bucharest 2025 but will stick to the same dates of October 24th to November 2nd.

Masters Bucharest will also still feature the same format, with 16 teams being invited via the global Valve Regional Standings (VRS) and competing for a share of the $1.25m (£922k) prize pool.

This prize pool will be split in half, with 50% given to the players and the other 50% share going directly to clubs after several teams boycotted PGL events earlier in the year.

This isn’t the first time PGL has had to change plans this year. Hours after announcing a CS2 tournament in Kraków, Poland for 2027, PGL was then informed by the TAURON Arena that the event had been cancelled.

This turned out to be due to the fact that ESL is moving the Intel Extreme Masters CS2 events from Katowice to Kraków.

Despite this hiccup, PGL insists that the company says it still plans to hold an esports event in Serbia: “While we won’t be in Serbia this time, we look forward to returning in the near future.”