CATAN World Championship 2025 in Stuttgart
As we celebrate CATAN’s 30th Anniversary, a highlight will be the 2025 CATAN World Championship (CWC)! 90 players from 60 countries and regions will compete against each other April 5-6 in Stuttgart, Germany for the title of World Champion. The event is organized by KOSMOS Verlag, CATAN Studio, and CATAN GmbH.
The Right Location
CWC 2025 will be held in the Württemberg State Museum, located in the Old Castle in the heart of Stuttgart. This is a homecoming of sorts, as CATAN was first published by KOSMOS in Stuttgart in 1995, 30 years ago.
A First Look
The tournament will be the first chance for players to experience CATAN 6th Edition (6E). The latest edition of CATAN breathes new visual life into the same game players have known and loved for generations, adding quality of life improvements to its iconic design. CWC 2025 will be played using the international version of CATAN from KOSMOS, which differs from the English-language version - it uses plastic components, different size cards, and other minor distinctions.
Experience the Action!
You can join us at CWC 2025 to meet top players and community members, as well as folks from the CATAN development teams who will be there to join in the festivities.
Sunday will feature an opportunity for guests to play CATAN (and other KOSMOS titles) with family and friends, with additional staff on hand from 11:00 a.m. to 3:00 p.m. to help with any questions about rules or gameplay.
Saturday, April 5:
10:00 a.m. - 6:00 p.m.: Four preliminary rounds
Sunday, April 6:
10:00 a.m.: Semifinals
1:30 p.m.: Finals
Awards ceremony directly after the end of the final.
We look forward to a legendary tournament full of strategy, luck and thrills - Stay tuned for further updates.
The first Catan tournaments started in 1998, three years after the game was published in Germany. The first official World Championship took place in 2002.
It was held annually until 2008 and then once every two years from 2010 to 2022, with one exception: In 2020, unfortunately, we had to cancel the World Championship due to the Covid-19 pandemic. Instead, we organized a Digital World Championship which took place in 2021.
Due to CATAN’s 30th Anniversary, we postponed the CWC from 2024 to early 2025, so we can all celebrate this incredible milestone together.
Going forward, the World Championship will continue to occur every two years.
About the last World Championship
The last CATAN World Championship took place in Valletta, Malta, in 2022. Hamish Dean from New Zealand won the title of the CATAN World Champion. He will also be playing in this year's World Championship to defend his title.
Please enjoy this video or watch the Instagram story for a quick recap of all the fun we had in Valletta!
90 participants from 60 countries and regions will take part in the CATAN World Championship this year. We are very happy to welcome them to Stuttgart, as well as the current champion Hamish Dean from New Zealand, who won the title in Malta in 2022.
These are the participating countries and regions:
In order to participate in the CATAN World Championship, players must win their country’s national CATAN Championship. To do this, the country must be a licensed CATAN partner and organize official tournaments. Each country may send up to 2 players. The exact number allowed depends on the participating player count over the country’s tournament season. The qualification for this year's World Championship has already been completed.
Join the Fun!
Each country has its own kind of qualification tournaments for its national championship. If you also want to take part in a tournament, visit catanevents.com for all events in the US, Canada, UK, Ireland, South Africa, India, Australia and New Zealand. If you live in another country please take a look around the overview of our licensees in your country. They may already offer official CATAN tournaments. With the right tactics and a little luck, you may even qualify for the next National Championship. We’ll keep our fingers crossed for you!
The CATAN World Championship will be held on two days:
On Saturday, all players play four rounds each, playing different opponents each round. After that, they are ranked according to their victories, their total number of victory points and their percentage of the total victory points scored at each table. The 16 best players in this ranking move on to the Semifinals.
On Sunday, the Semifinals will be held in a single-elimination bracket system. The winners of the four Semifinal games then play in a Final game for the title of CATAN World Champion.
The current rules of CATAN – The Game apply to the tournament. The tournament rules also apply. All players must know and follow these.
On-site referees will ensure compliance with the rules. They will also pay attention to the behavior of players. Because CATAN stands for peaceful coexistence. We strive for this in our tournaments as well.
This year you will compete against each other in Stuttgart, Germany. This is a symbolic setting, as CATAN was first published 30 years ago in Stuttgart, the home of the KOSMOS publishing house.
Stuttgart is the vibrant capital of Baden-Württemberg in Germany. Surrounded by rolling hills and vineyards, the city boasts impressive sights such as the historic castle and the world's first television tower.
It is known worldwide for its automotive industry, with the headquarters of Mercedes-Benz and Porsche. The lively cultural scene includes over 40 museums, including the State Gallery and the Art Museum. Regional specialties are Maultaschen, Spätzle and the exquisite wine tradition.
More information about the city can be found here: https://www.stuttgart-tourist.de/en
The tournament will take place in the wonderful Old Castle in Stuttgart. The Old Castle, now home to the Württemberg State Museum, is one of the city's most important historical buildings. It was once built as a protective castle and center of power for the Württemberg dynasty. It still impresses visitors today with its imposing architecture and magnificent arcaded courtyard.
Inside the castle, the Württemberg State Museum offers fascinating and top-class collections that invite you to take a journey through Württemberg and European history. We think that the atmosphere of the venue suits CATAN very well.
More information about the museum can be found here:
https://www.landesmuseum-stuttgart.de/en/visit/visitor-information
