Teams write open letter to Valve about "significant flaws" in new ecosystem

Twenty-two organizations signed a letter calling for changes. "The system as it stands is not a level playing field," they said.

A group of teams has written to Valve urging the developer to fine-tune the tournament system that came into being in 2025, arguing there are "significant flaws" that might push organizations out of the game.

Ninjas in Pyjamas, FURIA, MOUZ and Falcons are among the 22 organizations that signed a letter offering feedback to help Valve "strengthen the foundation" laid at the start of the year, when the CS ecosystem moved away from the partner leagues.

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The letter stated that the only way to enter the Valve Regional Standings (VRS) is through open qualifiers for tier-one events, adding that smaller tournament organizers run invite-only competitions as they lack the resources to oversee open qualifiers.

At the same time, not every tier-one event will feature open qualifier slots, which limits the number of opportunities many teams have to earn VRS points.

"This creates a layered ecosystem: the biggest tournaments offer a small chance at a dream OQ run that catapults teams to relevance, while the tier below runs on invites only," the letter read.

"Below that tier is a dead zone, where teams slowly run out of oxygen while waiting for the next tier 1 open qualifier.

"As a result, any new up-and-coming team can only enter the ranking, paradoxically, through Tier 1 events, and these are few and far between. Unless the ranking system changes, there must be stronger incentives for smaller TOs to run open qualifiers."

The teams also called for tighter regulation of event licenses, pointing out that "multiple tournaments have had their VRS status revoked mid-tournament while others have had it added mid-tournament."

This came after HLTV reported last month that four tournaments had had their ranked status removed after failing to comply with Valve's rules.

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"This uncertainty has major implications for teams and players — due to how precarious the situation is in tier 2, committing to the wrong tournament could result in a long stint in the dead zone," the teams said.

Despite praising Valve for making their ranking model available open source, the teams argued there are cases of players and even tournament organizers struggling to grasp the fine details of the system.

"If players cannot understand the steps needed to climb the ranking, or if a TO does not understand whether their tournament fulfills the license requirements, there needs to be a centralized forum/platform where questions are asked and answered," the teams said.

"We understand that there is a cost to building and maintaining such a platform, and are open to working with a third party to do so. Currently, the scene is coping with the lack of clarity by sharing information in what has become a global game of telephone where, at times, teams are educating TOs on the current interpretation of the rules, mostly operating completely in the dark."

The letter ends with a plea for Valve to bring back open qualifiers for the Majors. Last month, the developer announced new qualifying events for the BLAST Austin Major, the Major Regional Qualifiers (MRQ), featuring 16 teams in the Americas and Europe and eight in Asia. All slots will be filled by the VRS.

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"Valve, you made a bold decision to reshape the Counter-Strike ecosystem, but the system as it stands is not a level playing field. — to get there, you have to finish what you started," the teams said.

"From your perspective this might just be a time period where you’re accepting flaws in the system until it irons itself out. To us, the teams, this time period could kill our Counter-Strike organizations."

Since the publication of the letter, PARIVISION and AMKAL have contacted HLTV stating they agree with the points made in the document.

Read the letter in full:

Signed by:
Ninjas in Pyjamas
Metizport
Endpoint
JANO
ENCE
MOUZ
BIG
HAVU
EYEBALLERS
IMPERIAL
LEGACY
FALCONS
OG Esports
3DMAX
9z
FURIA
M80
Monte Esports
Fnatic
GamerLegion
9INE
Aurora

Dear Valve,

We all share your vision of “A Level Playing Field” — where every team and player has the opportunity to qualify for a Major based on skill alone. We appreciate your efforts to reshape the tournament landscape, but we believe the current system has significant flaws that are undermining this vision. As a collective, we offer this feedback to help strengthen the foundation you’ve built.

Open qualifiers: The Only Way to Enter the Scene is Through Tier 1

As it stands, if you have a core without VRS points, open qualifiers are the only way of getting points.

For tournament organizers (TOs), open qualifiers (OQs) are a major undertaking, simply due to scale. Running 512-1024 team brackets requires a sizable logistical and administrative workload to ensure competitive integrity meaning only the biggest TOs are able to organize these effectively. This creates a layered ecosystem: the biggest tournaments offer a small chance at a dream OQ run that catapults teams to relevance, while the tier below runs on invites only. Below that tier is a dead zone, where teams slowly run out of oxygen while waiting for the next tier 1 open qualifier.

As a result, any new up-and-coming team can only enter the ranking, paradoxically, through Tier1-events, and these are few and far between. Unless the ranking system changes, there must be stronger incentives for smaller TOs to run open qualifiers.

Backpedaling on Decisions

The status of a tournament's VRS license needs to be settled before the tournament starts. We’re only one month into the year and multiple tournaments have had their VRS status revoked mid-tournament while others have had it added mid-tournament. This uncertainty has major implications for teams and players — due to how precarious the situation is in tier 2, committing to the wrong tournament could result in a long stint in the dead zone. From a team's perspective it is crucial that these licenses are not given out on a whim.

Communication and Complexity:

Credit where credit is due — making the codebase open-source has given everyone the opportunity to fully grasp the inner workings of the ranking, allowing us to fully understand the effect of every single match.

However, the esports industry gathers people from all walks of life with a great variety in technical knowledge and work life experiences. Presenting this crucial information on a GitHub repository, written in a very technical way, negatively affects accessibility for smaller teams and players who lack the technical fluency to dissect the model.

If players cannot understand the steps needed to climb the ranking, or if a TO does not understand whether their tournament fulfills the license requirements, there needs to be a centralized forum/platform where questions are asked and answered. We understand that there is a cost to building and maintaining such a platform, and are open to working with a third party to do so. Currently, the scene is coping with the lack of clarity by sharing information in what has become a global game of telephone where, at times, teams are educating TOs on the current interpretation of the rules, mostly operating completely in the dark.

Valve, you made a bold decision to reshape the Counter-Strike ecosystem, but the system as it stands is not a level playing field. — to get there, you have to finish what you started. From your perspective this might just be a time period where you’re accepting flaws in the system until it irons itself out. To us, the teams, this time period could kill our Counter-Strike organizations.

To leave you with a short-term suggestion that would help us: add open qualifiers to the Major again. Allow all teams and players the chance to save their careers and dreams.