Twenty-two organizations, including Ninjas in Pyjamas, FURIA, MOUZ, and Falcons, have signed an open letter to Valve calling for a review of the new Counter-Strike 2 tournament ecosystem introduced in 2025. The teams emphasized that the current system has serious flaws that could jeopardize the future of the organizations and called for changes to create a “level playing field.”

The main problems outlined in the letter are:

Limited access to VRS (Valve Regional Standings) points

The only way for new teams to get VRS points is through open qualifiers, which are held only for Tier-1 tournaments. This creates a tiered ecosystem where:

• The largest tournaments offer minimal chances to newcomers.
• Lower-level tournaments are invitation-based, eliminating the opportunity for new teams to make a name for themselves.
• Teams that fail to make it through open qualifiers find themselves in a “dead zone” waiting for their next chance.

Instability of VRS licenses

The letter draws attention to the fact that several tournaments have lost or gained VRS status during the event. This creates chaos for teams that risk investing resources in the “wrong” tournament, losing the opportunity for growth.

Difficulty in understanding the ranking system

Although Valve has made the code base open, it remains inaccessible to many teams due to the high technical level of information. Scene participants cannot always understand how to rise in the rankings or whether their tournament meets the requirements.

Lack of a centralized platform

The teams called on Valve to create a platform for information exchange and resolution of issues related to the tournament system. According to the organizations, this will help to avoid misinformation that is currently spreading among players and tournament organizers.

Calls to Valve:

• Return open qualifiers for majors. This will allow teams to maintain their careers and dreams of participating in major tournaments.
• Regulate the status of VRS before the start of tournaments.
• Create a communication platform to support teams and organizers.

Who signed the letter:

Among the signatories are leading organizations, including ENCE, fnatic, Monte, GamerLegion, Imperial, OG and others. The full list includes 22 teams representing different regions and levels of the esports scene.

The letter concludes with a call for Valve to complete the reform of the tournament system and fix the shortcomings that prevent the creation of a level playing field for all teams and players.