The Chinese CS2 scene has seen a surge of interest ahead of the PGL Major Copenhagen 2024 Open Qualifiers for the Asia-Pacific season
Chinese players have delivered a resounding message before their PGL Major Copenhagen 2024 Open Qualifiers campaign. A record-breaking number of teams from China have signed up for the Asia-Pacific RMRs of the first CS2 Major. This is a testament to the game’s popularity in the country despite a lack of success on the global stage in recent times.
Chinese Teams Break Record in PGL Major Copenhagen 2024 Open Qualifiers
According to Liquipedia, a staggering 3186 Chinese teams have registered to participate in the PGL Major Copenhagen 2024 Asia Pacific RMRs. This marks an unprecedented peak in the history of CS Major qualifiers for any region. To put it in perspective, the last event in the series, BLAST Paris 2023, saw only 137 squads from that region. Even Europe, the game’s prime region, which reached its pinnacle in 2024 with 844 teams, is unable to match this feat.
Credit: PGL
China enjoyed prominence as a competitive region in Counter-Strike 1.6, yet the success it experienced in that version of the game failed to transition into the CSGO era. Chinese teams faced challenges in securing victories at major events and struggled to reach the playoffs of prestigious Majors. This absence of triumphs on the international stage created a narrative of unfulfilled potential for the Chinese Counter-Strike.
There is a notable surge in interest within the Chinese Counter-Strike community now, however, and this heightened enthusiasm is attributed to the upcoming Shanghai Major, scheduled to take place after the PGL Major Copenhagen this year.
The anticipation surrounding the Shanghai Major has acted as a catalyst for increased participation and engagement within the Chinese Counter-Strike scene. Fans and players alike are gearing up for the event, fueled by the prospect of witnessing top-tier competition on their home turf and the opportunity for Chinese teams to make a mark on the global Counter-Strike stage. Chinese teams, therefore, feel extra motivated to prove themselves in Copenhagen before the attention turns to Shanghai later this year.
Even though more than three thousand CS2 teams will be fighting in the Open Qualifiers in China, only four of them will move to the next stop of the road to the Danish capital; the Closed Qualifiers.