Up until today, ESL-hosted Counter-Strike 2 tournaments have not featured third-place decider matches. You might think that's fine, because why would you really want to watch a "loser's final", if you will, but there are reasons why it should happen.
This isn't just so that one team walks away with slightly more prize money, but also because CS2 is governed by the Valve Regional Standings, a leaderboard of teams that determine who the best rosters in the world are and sees direct tournament invitations handed out in regards to this. Needless to say, extra points from earning third-place positions and bronze trophies are very important.
So, the ESL has decided to make these a reality, with the ESL Pro League Season 22, IEM Chengdu 2025, and IEM Krakow 2026 each being tournaments that will utilise third-place matches first. IEM Cologne won't as it's too soon, but following these three we can expect third--place deciders at all Tier 1 and Wildcard events.
As for how this affects prize money distribution, all that we're told is that for a $1 million tournament, third place will now walk away with a player reward of $28,000 and a club reward of $60,000, while fourth gets a player reward of $22,000 and a club reward of $50,000.
