Imperial Fe becomes first women’s team to qualify for IEM Katowice

Imperial Fe has become the first female Counter-Strike team to qualify for IEM Katowice.

Taking place from January 29th until February 9th, the event also marks the first time a women’s team has competed in an event that forms part of the ESL Pro Tour Championship.

IEM Katowice, a Counter-Strike tournament organised by ESL FACEIT Group, features 24 teams competing for a share of its $1m (~£817,450) prize pool.

Alongside Imperial Fe, the likes of NAVI, Team Vitality and Shanghai Major winner Team Spirit are also taking part. Notably, eight teams have received a direct route to the group stage due to their place in the Valve Regional Standings (VRS).

Every team has been invited based on their VRS ranking as of January 6th 2025. However, there are some notable additions to point out. ESL FACEIT Group noted that Team Falcons has been invited due to acquiring the majority roster of eighth-placed VRS team HEROIC.

Moreover, Imperial Fe was not the only women’s team to reach the top 24 VRS threshold. Placing 24th was FURIA Fe, however, due to the organisation already having a team in the competition, the female roster was selected to not compete. In the team’s place is HEROIC, which acquired the majority roster of Sangal Esports (VRS rank 25).

Having placed 23rd, Imperial Fe has qualified for the Play-In portion of the competition. Teams are placed into a best-of-three (BO3), double-elimination bracket where the top eight advance to the group stage.

Imperial Fe has achieved plenty of success since the organisation returned to the women’s Counter-Strike in May 2024. In November 2024, it won ESL Impact Season 6, securing $50,000 (~£40,883) in prize money as a result.

IEM Katowice forms part of the Intel Grand Slam, a prize offered to the first team that wins four of ten consecutive ESL-operated events. Any team that achieves this goal is awarded $1m (~£817,450).

2024’s IEM Katowice was won by Team Spirit, defeating FaZe Clan in the Grand Final. Both teams will be competing in 2025’s event.

IEM Katowice takes place in Katowice, Poland with the playoffs held in the city’s Spodek Arena which holds up to 11,000 people. The tournament series, sponsored by Intel, has taken place since 2007 with events taking place across Europe and North America.

The full list of IEM Katowice 2025 participants are:

In addition to Counter-Strike, IEM has also hosted tournaments in real-time strategy (RTS) title StarCraft II. ESL FACEIT Group is yet to confirm if IEM Katowice 2025 will host a StarCraft II tournament.