BLAST Premier has announced an updated circuit for 2027, with a $10M investment, up from $8.5M, and an all-LAN format across all six events. The changes follow the current VRS landscape where LAN matches are greatly prioritized in Valve’s system. Alongside the switch back to LAN, BLAST has also scrapped the Frequent Flyer Programme, leaving teams free to skip particular events as they see fit, without risking a significant loss of revenue.
BLAST confirms fully LAN-based format for 2027
BLAST’s reliance on online qualification stages for both Bounty and Open events became a friction point for many top teams across 2025. While Bounty’s expansive 32-team format was always meant to start with an online stage, Open switched to an online qualifier for the fall edition. For 2027, the TO is returning to an all-LAN system, with both Bounty and Open returning to LAN for their initial stages.
While Rivals retains its eight-team wildcard format, both Bounty and Open will now feature 12 teams invited from the VRS, while another four qualify from regional qualifiers. All this should combine to elevate BLAST’s circuit in importance when teams properly consider VRS implications.
“With a fully LAN-focused structure, stronger VRS impact and the removal of main event online matches, the biggest moments will play out on the biggest stages.”
LAN events are de rigueur in the current VRS system, with even C-tier events drawing big team names due to the importance of those in-person victories. With the majority of BLAST’s 2025 and 2026 events utilizing online stages, it meant that teams outside the top 5 had little incentive to participate.
Any upsets they caused would only matter if they occured in the LAN stage (like PARIVISION’s victory run), while online stage wins were discounted in their rankings. From 2027, the updated format should ensure that far fewer teams choose to skip BLAST’s 16-team events.
Related—PARIVISION sweep Falcons to win BLAST Bounty Season 1 2026
Six events confirmed for 2027, including Rio de Janeiro
While much of the 2027 calendar remains up in the air, BLAST has shared the dates for all its events across the year. Much like 2025 and 2026, each season will feature three events from BLAST, with the final event concluding around a week before the Major.
So far just two of the six locations have been announced. The first event of the year (likely a Bounty event) will take place in the Schengen region, while the fifth event (likely an Open event) will take place in Rio de Janeiro.
“We already have Shakira. Now it’s time for Rio to bring FalleN and the best in the world in CS. BLAST felt what the Carioca crowd is like this year with R6 and will be back in 2027.”—Eduardo Paes, Mayor of Rio de Janeiro
Here are the dates of all the events in the BLAST Premier 2027 circuit:
- BLAST Premier Event 1 – Jan. 13 to 24 (Schengen)
- BLAST Premier Event 2 – March 15 to 28 (TBA)
- BLAST Premier Event 3 – May 10 to 23 (TBA)
- BLAST Premier Event 4 – Aug. 30 to Sept. 12 (TBA)
- BLAST Premier Event 5 – Oct. 4 to 17 (Rio de Janeiro, Brazil)
- BLAST Premier Event 6 – Nov. 8 to 14 (TBA)
$10M investment and new acceptance fee system explained
BLAST’s total investment into the competitive Counter-Strike ecosystem rises to $10M in 2027, up from $8.5M in 2026, distributed across four mechanisms: prize money ($3M), team payments ($4.5M), acceptance fees ($1.8M), and player experience ($700K). Prize money and team payments function similarly to previous years—both contribute to VRS and are awarded based on tournament placement and performance, with prize money going to players and team payments retained by organisations.
The major change is the replacement of the Frequent Flyer Programme with acceptance fees. Rather than rewarding season-long participation, BLAST will now pay organisations a fee upon accepting an event invitation, scaled to their VRS ranking at the time of the invite. Acceptance fees do not contribute to VRS.
“Increasing our investment to $10 million is not just about bigger prize pools, it is about revamping our formats to deliver a more sustainable and premium experience for teams, players and fans.”
The 2027 changes will take effect from the start of the new season, with the first event kicking off Jan. 13 in the Schengen region. Further details on locations, qualifier dates, and the redesigned Bounty format are expected in the coming months.
