The competitive gaming event organizer, ESL, has revealed its collaboration with the hardware peripheral company ZOWIE, which will supply display units for the IEM Kraków 2026 competition.
ESL disclosed that the participants in the Counter-Strike 2 (CS2) championship will compete using ZOWIE XL2586X+ 600Hz display screens.
This engagement marks another instance of ZOWIE furnishing hardware for professional gaming competitions. Throughout 2025, ZOWIE served as the display supplier for the StarLadder Budapest Major in November and collaborated with BLAST for their 2025 Fortnite Global Championship.
ZOWIE’s involvement in the esports sector extends over numerous years. For instance, in 2024, ZOWIE supplied XL2566K gaming displays for the PGL CS2 Major held in Copenhagen. Additionally, in 2023, ZOWIE functioned as the official display partner for the VALORANT Champions Tour across both the Pacific and Americas regions.
Understanding IEM Kraków
IEM Kraków represents a forthcoming Counter-Strike 2 competition orchestrated by ESL, initially planned for Katowice, Poland. This offline gathering is scheduled to run from January 28th through February 8th, 2026, marking the commencement of the Counter-Strike 2 professional circuit as the inaugural IEM occasion.
The contest will feature twenty-four squads, consisting of premier entities based on the Valve Regional Standings Global as of January 2026, all vying for the primary portion of a $1 million (~£729,62) total prize fund, alongside $250,000 (~£182,40) designated for club incentives.
This championship will be segmented into three distinct phases. IEM Kraków commences with its initial Play-In Stage, a double-elimination bracket involving sixteen participating teams. The eight most successful teams will then progress to meet eight pre-qualified teams in the Group Stage, which comprises two double-elimination groups, each consisting of eight teams.
From each group, the leading three teams will proceed to the Playoffs, securing their positions in either the Semi-finals or Quarter-finals based on their prior accomplishments. The Playoffs stage will proceed as a single-elimination format, with every match played as a Best-of-3 series, culminating in a Best-of-5 Grand Final.
This article, “ZOWIE will supply displays for IEM Kraków 2026,” was initially published by Esports Insider.
