Valve has officially released the list of exceptions granted to some 2025 tournaments that allow them to be held with deviations from the “tournament organization requirements”. This information, published on Valve's GitHub on January 7, reveals changes aimed at providing flexibility for tournaments while adhering to the basic principles.

The document titled “Tournament Exceptions” explains Valve's reasons:

“We allow tournaments to operate outside of [the tournament organization requirements] in certain cases where the exceptions are known and approved by us. These exceptions give organizers more flexibility, provide more data to sort teams, and most importantly, don't contradict the spirit of the requirements.”

Overview of the exceptions

The approved exceptions mainly relate to changes in the invitation rules, selection formats, and announcement timelines. The changes affected both leading organizers such as ESL, BLAST and PGL and smaller events. Here are the highlights:

Major Tier-One tournaments

ESL Pro League seasons 21 and 22

• Teams can receive direct invitations based on their previous performances in the Pro League.
• Wildcard squads can be invited to closed qualifiers.

IEM Dallas 2025

• The regions of North and South America (NA, SA) can be used as filters for Valve Regional Standings (VRS), even though they are not officially recognized as separate regions.

BLAST Rivals

• One “Wildcard event” with more flexible rules is allowed after organizing only two Tier-One tournaments instead of the required three.

BLAST Open and PGL Bucharest/Astana/Belgrade

• Invitationals for positions 13-16 may be replaced by regional qualifiers. These qualifiers must include at least 16 teams from the VRS rankings in Europe, Asia, NA and SA.
• The number of invitations to the main events and qualifiers for NA and SA should be equal.

Smaller tournaments

Hero Esports ACL

• It is allowed to hold a Tier-One tournament in Asia, despite the fact that it was announced after the deadline.

Launders LAN

• Can be announced and held in a shorter time frame than is provided for Tier-Two tournaments.

BrisVegas LAN

• Similar to the Launders LAN, it can be held on a shorter schedule.

Special invitations

Esports World Cup 2025

• The tournament may invite the winner of the Hero Esports ACL instead of the team selected by VRS.

Valve's goal

These exceptions highlight Valve's commitment to maintaining a balance between competitive integrity and flexibility for organizers. This is especially true for Tier-One tournaments, where the changes ensure fair representation of regions and maximize the participation of strong teams.

Valve also takes into account unforeseen circumstances, such as announcement delays or regional qualifiers, which allows tournaments to run without compromising on standards.

With the start of the 2025 season, these exceptions confirm Valve's commitment to supporting the development of esports by creating favorable conditions for organizers and players.