Valve, the publisher for the popular game Counter-Strike, created massive upheaval in the esports landscape today in an effort to take back control of its cash cow. Valve issued new requirements for esports competitions, which will result in the suspension of business partnerships (i.e., giving certain teams major tournament prequalification) for third-party tournament organizers in 2025. Currently, Blast and ESL FaceIt Group hold such partnerships with top teams for direct invites to their pro leagues/events. Additionally, Valve wants all compensation for running a CS:GO event made public.
Valve seeks to do away with the automatic invites, as the publisher has taken control over a team-ranking system, both regionally and globally, in recent years through a proprietary system.
By contrast, third-party organizers have used HLTV, a website dedicated to Counter-Strike, as a de facto ranking system. The system grants points and is advantageous to teams that can afford travel and enter numerous events. Teams in franchised leagues were at a huge advantage, simply by garnering points in those leagues, whereas other teams were shut out. Some Counter-Strike teams were offered bonuses for being ranked in HLTV’s top five.
Notable partnered teams in both the ESL and Blast leagues include Team Liquid, Evil Geniuses, FaZe Clan and Complexity. ESL and Blast responded with statements today that they will make changes to their leagues/tournaments by 2025. ESL SVP/Game Ecosystems Ulrich Schulze posted on social media that his company is adjusting. "We will shift our tournament revenue sharing model from selected teams to all teams participating starting in 2025. We will announce more details on this in the coming months," he posted. -- Kevin Hitt & Hunter Cooke
