HLTV Awards 2025 scales up with new venue in Belgrade, Serbia

The newly renovated Sava Centar which will host 1000 esteemed guests from the world of Counter-Strike and esports.

We are pleased to announce that the HLTV Awards presented by 1xBet will take place on January 10th in Belgrade, Serbia. The event will return to the city for the third time, building on the legacy of previous editions when Mathieu "⁠ZywOo⁠" Herbaut and Danil "⁠donk⁠" Kryshkovets were crowned the best players in the world.

Serbia's unique position as an easily accessible European country that is outside of the Schengen area has proven to be a great location for teams and players ahead of the busy season. Last year, all 15 HLTV Award winners were present to pick up their trophies on the big stage - a feat we hope to repeat with this edition of the show.

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HLTV provides travel support to top teams, finalists, and announcers that attend HLTV Awards. Interested parties can reach out to [email protected].

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Bigger venue, more attendees

But we aren't keeping everything the same.

Due to increased interest for the event, our desire to expand the preshow area, and the goal of adding more entertainment to the main event, the HLTV Awards 2025 will move to the Blue Hall of the Sava Centar. The building is one of Belgrade’s most significant landmarks in the field of modern architecture and you can see it in action here.

The new venue allows us to raise the number of attendees from 600 to 1000. While it is a big increase, HLTV Awards will remain exclusive, industry-based, and invite-only. With Sava Centar, we are scaling up in quantity, but also quality.

The event will once again be produced by Relog Media, making it the third year in a row the Serbian company will be cooperating with HLTV on the project.

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Are you an industry member that wants to attend the event? Head over to our Awards page and sign up.

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A conference that makes a difference

While the broadcast and the celebration of the best players is what will always remain the focal point of the HLTV Awards, we aim to make the trip to Belgrade worthwhile for all attendees. Previously, we expanded the Awards from a day to a weekend event with a mixer and mingle activities (padel, gun range, etc.) but there was an opportunity for something more.

With so many different stakeholders already present at one place, a Counter-Strike conference is a natural evolution for the HLTV Awards. The one-day industry gathering will take place on January 9th, with the goal of setting up discussions that can improve the state of the Counter-Strike ecosystem and keep it thriving for years to come.

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More details to come. If you are interested in attending or speaking at the conference reach out to [email protected].

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The categories

The Awards and ceremony itself won't be changing much. Expect a grand stage, a celebration of players, teams, talent, and everything else Counter-Strike. We will also continue with the Skin of the year award introduced last year, presented by Skin.Club.

For the categories, you can find them below:

HLTV Awards

• Player of the year presented by 1xBet

• Women's Player of the year presented by 1xBet

• Team of the year presented by 1xBet

• Women's team of the year presented by 1xBet

• Rookie of the year presented by TBD

Panel Awards

• IGL of the year presented by 1xBet

• AWPer of the year presented by 1xBet

• Anchor of the year presented by 1xBet

• Closer of the year presented by 1xBet

• Opener of the year presented by 1xBet

• Coach of the year presented by 1xBet

• Highlight of the year presented by 1xBet

Community Awards

• Talent of the year presented by 1xBet

• Streamer of the year presented by 1xBet

• Creator of the year presented by 1xBet

• Event of the year presented by 1xBet

• Skin of the year presented by Skin.Club

Hall of Fame induction and map

We will continue to pay our respects to those that paved the way and are no longer competing this year throught the Hall of Fame presented by 1xBet.

In January, three new players will be inducted and join Patrik "⁠f0rest⁠" Lindberg, Christopher "⁠GeT_RiGhT⁠" Alesund, Emil "⁠HeatoN⁠" Christensen, and Tommy "⁠Potti⁠" Ingemarsson. Each player will receive:

- Induction ceremony during HLTV Awards
- Rolex watch with Hall of Fame inscription
- Special HLTV player profile
- Commemoration on the new Hall of Fame page
- Article and video about their career

Additionally, HLTV and 1xBet will soon reveal a special Hall of Fame map that will pay tribute to each inductee and teach new generations about the legends of yesteryear.

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Key info and things coming up

As a quick refresher, here are the key pieces of information you need to know:

• HLTV Awards by 1xBet return to Belgrade, scaled up in a new venue

• Show will take place on Saturday, January 10th

• A Counter-Strike conference will take place on Friday, January 9th

• Mingle activities and a pre-mixer will also take place on Friday, January 9th

• The event is for industry-members only. Apply for an invite here

• Hall of Fame continues with three new inductees

Coming soon:

• Hall of Fame presented by 1xBet Counter-Strike map (July)

• Mid-season check-in stream (July 12th)

• HLTV Awards party - Cologne (August 1st)

Revisit some of the best moments of last year in the gallery below: