The Intel Extreme Masters (IEM) is a series of international esports tournaments held in countries around the world. These Electronic Sports League (ESL) sanctioned events, sponsored by Intel, currently host events in Counter-Strike 2. Other game titles were hosted in the past, including StarCraft II and League of Legends. The body that owns the league is Savvy Games Group. The League has operated 17 seasons . The highest tier of events, known as Masters Championships, are held in the summer in Cologne, Germany and in the new year in Poland, offering the most prize money. Other events, known as Masters events, are held in numerous cities around the globe, which have included Dallas, Shanghai and Sydney.
History
The Intel Extreme Masters are a product of the ESL. The first tournament was hosted at Games Convention 2006 under the name "Core 2 Extreme Masters". After the Intel sponsored European tournament saw room for expansion outside of Europe, especially in North American markets, Intel provided funds for a worldwide tournament, billing it as the Intel Extreme Masters. In 2007, when established, the IEM established a format of many smaller qualifying events, leading up to a large final event that is held at CeBIT. All of the Grand Finals have been held at CeBIT. Starting in 2008, the Tournament was billed as being worldwide, boasting participants from Europe, North America, and Asia. Although Counterstrike 1.6 was the only game offered in the first season, the variety of games has increased greatly, to the four that were offered during Season 5. World of Warcraft was offered during Season 4, but was dropped for Season 5. The Season 5 Finals was held at CeBIT 2011 and included a prize pool. + Games hostedGameEvents hostedSeasonsCounter-Strike24I-VIWarcraft III: Reign of Chaos7I-IVWorld of Warcraft11III-IVQuake Live10IV-VDefense of the Ancients2IV-VWarcraft III: The Frozen Throne1VStarCraft II14V-VIILeague of Legends29V-XICounter-Strike: Global Offensive35VI-2023StarCraft II: Heart of the Swarm13VIII-XHearthstone: Heroes of Warcraft2VIII-IXHeroes of the Storm1XStarCraft II: Legacy of the Void14X-2022, 2024Overwatch1XIPlayerUnknown's Battlegrounds1XIICounter-Strike 2182023-
IEM seasons Season I Event Dates Game Winner World Championship 15-18 March 2007 Counter-Strike Team Pentagram Warcraft III: Reign of Chaos Yoan "ToD" Merlo
Season II
Event Dates Game Winner Los Angeles 6-9 March 2008 Counter-Strike FnaticRC Warcraft III: Reign of Chaos June "Lyn" Park World Championship Counter-Strike Mousesports Warcraft III: Reign of Chaos June "Lyn" Park
Season III Event Dates Game Winner Games Convention Warcraft III: Reign of Chaos Nihilum Plasma Los Angeles Counter-Strike SK Gaming World of Warcraft x6tence Montreal 17-19 October 2008 Counter-Strike Fnatic World of Warcraft SK Gaming Global Counter-Strike Mousesports Asian WoW 13-16 November 2008 Counter-Strike e-STRO World of Warcraft H O N Warcraft III: Reign of Chaos Manuel "Grubby" Schenkhuizen European Counter-Strike mTw World of Warcraft iNNERFiRE American Counter-Strike Made in Brazil World of Warcraft Trade Chat Asian CS1.6 16-18 January 2009 Counter-Strike wNv Teamwork Warcraft III: Reign of Chaos Li "Sky" Xiaofeng World Championship 3-8 March 2009 Counter-Strike fnatic World of Warcraft H O N
Season IV Event Dates Game Winner GamesCom 20-23 August 2009 Counter-Strike Mousesports Quake Live Shane "rapha" Hendrixson World of Warcraft Ensidia Chengdu 1-3 October 2009 Counter-Strike SK Gaming Defense of the Ancients For The Dream (ex-LGD) Warcraft III: Reign of Chaos Lu "Fly100%" Weiliang Dubai Counter-Strike Fnatic Quake Live Shane "rapha" Hendrixson European Counter-Strike Mousesports Quake Live Alexey "Cypher" Yanushevsky World of Warcraft SK Gaming Sansibar American Counter-Strike compLexity Quake Live Tim "DaHanG" Fogarty World of Warcraft compLexity Black Asian Counter-Strike WeMade FOX Quake Live Fan "Jibo" Zhibo World of Warcraft Button Bashers World Championship 2-6 March 2010 Counter-Strike Natus Vincere Quake Live Shane "rapha" Hendrixson World of Warcraft Evil Geniuses
Season V Event Dates Game Winner Shanghai Counter-Strike fnatic Warcraft III: The Frozen Throne June "Lyn" Park Defense of the Ancients EHOME Cologne StarCraft II Stefan "MorroW" Andersson — Mousesports Quake Live k1llsen American Counter-Strike compLexity Quake Live Shane "rapha" Hendrixson StarCraft II Jian "Fenix" Morayra Alejo — fnatic European Counter-Strike fnatic Quake Live Anton "Cooller" Singov StarCraft II Jeffrey "SjoW" Brusi — Team Dignitas World Championship 1-5 March 2011 Counter-Strike Natus Vincere Quake Live Shane "rapha" Hendrixson StarCraft II Jung "AcE" Woo-Seo — Team StarTale League of Legends Invitational myRevenge
Season VI Event Dates Game Winner Cologne League of Legends Counter Logic Gaming StarCraft II Lee "PuMa" Ho-Joon — Evil Geniuses Guangzhou League of Legends World Elite StarCraft II Greg "IdrA" Fields — Evil Geniuses Counter-Strike fnatic New York City League of Legends fnatic StarCraft II Park "DongRaeGu" Soo-Ho — Complexity Gaming & Team MvP Counter-Strike: Global Offensive SK Gaming Kyiv League of Legends Moscow 5 StarCraft II Moon "MMA" Sung-Won — Team SlayerS Counter-Strike Natus Vincere São Paulo StarCraft II Kim "viOLet" Dong-Hwan — Team Empire World Championship 6-10 March 2012 League of Legends Moscow 5 StarCraft II Jang "MC" Min-Chul— SK Gaming Counter-Strike: Global Offensive ESC Gaming
Season VII
Event Dates Game Winner Gamescom League of Legends Moscow Five StarCraft II Jung "Mvp" Jong-Hyun — Incredible Miracle Singapore League of Legends MeetYourMakers StarCraft II Ju "Sting" Hoon — Western Wolves Cologne League of Legends SK Telecom T1 Katowice League of Legends Gambit Gaming (ex-M5) StarCraft II Kang "First" Hyun-Woo — Incredible Miracle Brazil League of Legends Incredible Miracle World Championship League of Legends CJ Entus Blaze StarCraft II Choi "YoDa" Byung-Hyun — Incredible Miracle
Season VIII
Event Dates Game Winner Runner-up Shanghai 25–28 July 2013 League of Legends Team WE Invictus Gaming StarCraft II: Heart of the Swarm Revival Oz New York 10–13 October 2013 StarCraft II: Heart of the Swarm Life NaNiwa Cologne 23–24 November 2013 League of Legends (Pro) Gambit Gaming Fnatic League of Legends (Amateur) Copenhagen Wolves Ninjas in Pyjamas Singapore 28 November – 1 December 2013 League of Legends Invictus Gaming CJ Entus Frost StarCraft II: Heart of the Swarm herO san São Paulo 28 January – 1 February 2014 League of Legends Millenium paiN Gaming StarCraft II: Heart of the Swarm herO MC Cologne 13–16 February 2014 StarCraft II: Heart of the Swarm HerO Polt World Championship Katowice 13–16 March 2014 Hearthstone: Heroes of Warcraft Gnimsh Artosis League of Legends KT Rolster Bullets Fnatic StarCraft II: Heart of the Swarm sOs herO
Season IX
Event Dates Game Winner Runner-up Shenzhen 16–20 July 2014 Hearthstone: Heroes of Warcraft Amaz Azeri League of Legends Team WE EDward Gaming StarCraft II: Heart of the Swarm TaeJa Solar Toronto 28–31 August 2014 StarCraft II: Heart of the Swarm Flash Zest San Jose 6–7 December 2014 League of Legends Cloud9 Unicorns of Love StarCraft II: Heart of the Swarm herO Rain Cologne 18–21 December 2014 League of Legends Gambit Gaming Counter Logic Gaming Taipei 28 January – 1 February 2015 League of Legends yoe Flash Wolves Taipei Assassins StarCraft II: Heart of the Swarm Life Maru World Championship Katowice 12–15 March 2015 Counter-Strike: Global Offensive Fnatic Ninjas in Pyjamas League of Legends Team SoloMid Team WE StarCraft II: Heart of the Swarm Zest Trap
Season X
Event Dates Game Winner Runner-up Shenzhen 16–20 July 2015 Heroes of the Storm MVP Black Virtus.pro StarCraft II: Heart of the Swarm Classic PartinG Gamescom 5–9 August 2015 Counter-Strike: Global Offensive Team EnVyUs Team SoloMid StarCraft II: Heart of the Swarm INnoVation soO San Jose 21–22 November 2015 Counter-Strike: Global Offensive Natus Vincere Team SoloMid League of Legends Origen Counter Logic Gaming Cologne 18–20 December 2015 League of Legends ESC Ever Qiao Gu Reapers Taipei 29 January – 2 February 2016 Counter-Strike: Global Offensive The MongolZ Renegades StarCraft II: Legacy of the Void sOs ByuN World Championship Katowice 4–6 March 2016 Counter-Strike: Global Offensive Fnatic Luminosity Gaming League of Legends SK Telecom T1 Fnatic StarCraft II: Legacy of the Void Polt Snute
Season XI
Event Dates Game Winner Runner-up Shanghai 28–31 July 2016 StarCraft II: Legacy of the Void uThermal Neeb Oakland 19–20 November 2016 Counter-Strike: Global Offensive Ninjas in Pyjamas SK Gaming League of Legends Unicorns Of Love Flash Wolves Gyeonggi 17–18 December 2016 League of Legends Samsung Galaxy Kongdoo Monster Overwatch LuxuryWatch Red Lunatic-Hai StarCraft II: Legacy of the Void INnoVation Stats World Championship Katowice 25–26 February & 3–5 March 2017 Counter-Strike: Global Offensive Astralis FaZe Clan League of Legends Flash Wolves G2 Esports StarCraft II: Legacy of the Void TY Stats
Season XII
Event Dates Game Winner Runner-up Sydney6–7 May 2017Counter-Strike: Global OffensiveSK GamingFaZe Clan Shanghai27–30 July 2017Starcraft 2RogueherO Oakland18–19 November 2017Counter-Strike: Global OffensiveNinjas in PyjamasFaZe Clan PlayerUnknown's Battlegrounds*aAa* GamingTempo Storm PyeongChang5–7 February 2018Starcraft 2ScarlettsOs Katowice2–4 March 2018Counter-Strike: Global OffensiveFnaticFaZe Clan Starcraft 2RogueClassic
Season XIII
EventVenueDatesGameChampionRunner-upPrize PoolSydneyQudos Bank Arena1 - 6 May 2018Counter-Strike: Global OffensiveFaze ClanAstralisUS$250,000ShanghaiShanghai New International Expo Center 1 - 6 August 2018Counter-Strike: Global OffensiveNRG EsportsTYLOOUS$250,000ChicagoJeunesse Arena6 - 11 November 2018Counter-Strike: Global OffensiveAstralisTeam LiquidUS$250,000World ChampionshipSpodek Arena13 February - 3 March 2019Counter-Strike: Global OffensiveAstralisENCEUS$1,000,000StarCraft IIsoOStatsUS$400,000
Season XIV
EventVenueDatesGameChampionRunner-upPrize PoolSydneyQudos Bank Arena29 April – 5 May 2019Counter-Strike: Global OffensiveTeam Liquid FnaticUS$250,000ChicagoUnited Center 18 – 21 July 2019Counter-Strike: Global OffensiveTeam Liquid ENCEUS$250,000BeijingBeijing University Students' Stadium7 – 10 November 2019Counter-Strike: Global OffensiveAstralis100 Thieves US$250,000World ChampionshipSpodek Arena24 February – 1 March 2020Counter-Strike: Global OffensiveNatus Vincere G2 EsportsUS$500,000StarCraft IIRogueZestUS$400,000
Season XV
EventVenueDatesGameChampionRunner-upPrize Pool Global Challenge15 – 20 December 2020Counter-Strike: Global OffensiveAstralisTeam Liquid US$500,000World Championship16 – 28 February 2021Counter-Strike: Global OffensiveGambit Esports Virtus.pro US$1,000,000StarCraft IIReynorZestUS$250,000 Melbourne17 – 22 August 2021Counter-Strike: Global Offensive US$250,000
Season XVI
EventVenueDatesGameChampionRunner-upPrize PoolSummerOnline3 – 13 June 2021Counter-Strike: Global OffensiveGambit Esports OGUS$250,000CologneLanxess Arena6 – 18 July 2021Counter-Strike: Global OffensiveNatus VincereG2 EsportsUS$1,000,000WinterQuality Hotel™ Globe2 – 12 December 2021Counter-Strike: Global OffensiveTeam VitalityNinjas in PyjamasUS$250,000KatowiceSpodek Arena15 – 22 February 2022Counter-Strike: Global OffensiveFaZe ClanG2 EsportsUS$1,000,000StarCraft IISerralReynorUS$500,000
Year 2022