Valve Updates Tournament Rules: Tier-3 Teams Will Soon Disappear
Valve has updated the CS2 rules for tournament operators. Now, a special license from the company is required, and invitations can only be distributed based on developer rankings. These changes will take effect in 2025.
A news post on the game's blog states: "Counter-Strike at its best is a competition between teams on equal terms, where only player skills determine their success. We believe CS should be an open form of competition. Therefore, below we outline the new requirements for hosting large-scale competitive events.
In short: these rules limit the ability to directly invite teams to competitions, ensure transparency in team rewards, and define the types of tournaments considered in our official ranking.
If you want to host a Counter-Strike tournament, you will need a license from Valve. In many cases, a Limited Game Tournament License will suffice, but for larger-scale tournaments, you will need to contact Valve for a broader license.”
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Division of CS2 Tournaments
For non-ranked tournaments, any teams can be invited. As the name suggests, teams will not earn Valve ranking points for participating. The maximum prize pool for such a tournament is $100,000, and if the organizer hosts more than one event, their total prize pool must not exceed $250,000 per year.
Ranked tournaments are now divided into two categories: Tier-1 and Tier-2. Top tournaments must invite all teams starting from the first place in the Valve rankings, and second-level tournaments from the 9th place. The organizer must immediately announce the number of slots in the tournament and invite 1.5 times more teams – some will go directly, some through closed qualifiers.
Getting into a Tier-1 tournament is now much harder. The tournament operator must invite at least 16 teams, 8 of which will go through closed qualifications to the main stage. Additionally, an unlimited number of teams that won Tier-2 tournaments within the last six months can be invited to the closed qualifier. If desired, the organizer can add open qualifiers.
A special license from Valve is required to host a Tier-1 tournament.
For Tier-2 tournaments, the requirements are lower. Teams can be invited either through the Valve rankings or through open qualifiers. If a TO is organizing a Tier-2 event for 16 teams, they must invite clubs ranked 9th to 32nd. Some will go directly to the main stage, others through closed qualifiers.
Wildcard Invitations
Additionally, there is an option to invite teams to tournaments via Wildcard. For every 8 slots in the tournament, 2 places can be allocated for Wildcard: 2 teams for an 8-slot tournament, 4 for 16 slots, and so on. Teams can qualify for Wildcard if they meet at least one of two conditions:
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Winning a Tier-1 tournament within a year prior to the Wildcard;
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At least 3 players on the roster were part of any team in the top-8 rankings over the past year.
Wildcard is seriously limited. It can be used after three completed tournaments, with slots distributed proportionally by region. For example, if a TO hosted one tournament in each region, the Wildcard must have an equal number of teams from Europe, America, and Asia.
Tournament Announcements
Tier-1 tournaments must be announced much earlier:
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2025 tournaments must be announced by September 1, 2024;
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2026 tournaments must be announced by January 1, 2025;
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Tournaments from 2027 onwards must be announced at least 24 months before the tournament starts.
Therefore, we will know about all 2027 tournaments in 2025.
Tier-2 tournaments must be announced at least 3 months before they start.
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