According to the results of the Perfect World Shanghai Major 2024: Opening Stage, it became obvious that the European region continues to lose its position in the global distribution of slots at majors. Compared to the previous tournaments, Europe will lose one of its slots at the next BLAST.tv Austin Major 2025, which puts additional pressure on European teams.

At the PGL Major Copenhagen 2024, Europe had 17 slots, while at the Perfect World Shanghai Major 2024, their number dropped to 14. Now, at the upcoming Austin Major, Europe is expected to receive only 13 slots, behind America and Asia.

Current distribution of slots

• Europe: 13 slots (there were 14);
• America: 8 slots (7 slots);
• Asia: 3 slots (unchanged).

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Why is Europe losing a slot?

• The success of America. Teams from the Americas, such as paiN, MIBR, and FURIA, have significantly improved their results, confidently passing the RMR and Opening stages.
• Asian breakthroughs. Teams such as The MongolZ are showing increasing stability and competitiveness, overcoming both European and American lineups.

• Weakness of European outsiders. Some European teams, such as Fnatic and Virtus.pro, failed to advance to the next stage, which undermines the overall strength of the region.

• Valve's policy. Valve tries to balance regional representation by supporting fast-growing scenes, such as the Americas and Asia.

What does this mean for Europe?

European teams will have to work harder to stay on top. The traditionally strong region no longer has the same advantage as before. The next major will be critical for Europe's return to a dominant role.

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Rumors of expansion to 32 teams?

As previously reported by HLTV, there are rumors that the number of participants may be expanded to 32 at the next major. If the majors expand to 32 teams, it could change the distribution of slots. Europe will potentially get +10 teams, America - +5, and Asia - +1. However, the basic quota structure is likely to remain the same, and the additional places will be distributed in proportion to the success of the regions.

Conclusion.

BLAST.tv Austin Major 2025 will be a real test for Europe. If the region fails to regain its position, the dominance of America and Asia will become even more pronounced, and European players will have even fewer places to compete at the m