Valve's recent update to their rules for tournament organizers includes an important amendment that limits the timeframe for sending out invitations to teams. This change affects future major events.
Valve now requires tournament organizers to send out invitations based on regional rankings no earlier than eight weeks prior to the main event. This restriction could make it much more difficult to prepare for tournaments, given that some teams may find it difficult to arrange visas and travel arrangements.
Background issues
Over the past few years, various teams have faced serious problems when participating in international tournaments, especially when it comes to visa issues. For example, events such as IEM Dallas and BLAST Premier have been the scene of such difficulties more than once, with players from Eastern Europe unable to participate due to visa denials. The introduction of the new rules may exacerbate this problem, as organizers and teams will have less time to prepare for the tournaments.
Details of the new rule
According to Valve's new rule, tournament organizers must send out invitations based on Valve Regional Rankings (VRS) eight weeks prior to the main event. On the invitation date, the organizer must invite a number of teams equal to 1.5 times the number of qualified participants. If the invitation date is the last week of the month, the rankings from the 1st of that month will be used, otherwise the rankings from the previous month will be used.
Community reaction
The change has already generated mixed reviews in the community. Graham Pitt, general manager of Complexity, expressed his concerns on social network X, urging Valve to reconsider the decision. He noted that the 16-week period gave organizers more opportunities to hold tournaments in different countries, where visa processing can be particularly difficult.
Pretty interesting change to Valve TO Rules last night.
— Graham Pitt (@messioso) August 14, 2024
TO's can now only invite teams 8 weeks max from the main event.
This means all qualifiers, visas, flights etc have to fit within those 8 weeks prior to the event.
Might be a bit aggressive especially for certain events. pic.twitter.com/H3y7iM0Pec
Importance of the change
Valve's new rules could significantly affect the organization of tournaments in 2025 and beyond, creating additional complexity for teams and organizers. How this will affect the global esports scene remains an open question. However, one thing is certain: preparing for tournaments will become even more stressful for everyone involved.
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