Valve Plans to End Franchising in Counter-Strike
BREAKING: Counter-Strike will move towards a more open tournament ecosystem following the launch of CS2.
Franchising and partner teams in esports have become something of the norm for many different video game titles. One of which is Counter-Strike, which has third-party owners select teams to participate in some of the most high-profile tournaments. But that could all change by 2025.
In a new statement outlining competitive requirements for CS2, Valve continued to mention the plan to move to an open ecosystem, making their tournaments available to the best players and teams through open qualifiers. But it could be a play for Valve to take over full control of CS2 as Activision has done in the Call of Duty League.
In a recent Tweet from Jake Lucky, Valve announced that it should be "an open sport." The publisher is adding new requirements to their large-scale competitive events. The details aren't finalized yet, but here's what to potentially expect:
- Tournament organizers will no longer have unique business relationships or other conflicts of interest with teams that participate in their events.
- Invitations to all tournaments will use Valve's ranking system or otherwise be determined by open qualifiers.
- Any compensation for participating teams - prize pool or otherwise - will be made public and will be driven by objective criteria that can be inspected by the community.
Counter Strike has announced huge updates for the future of CS2, no longer allowing business relations between TO's and teams. Goodbye franchise and partner teams, hello to a more open circuit
— Jake Lucky (@JakeSucky) August 3, 2023
This will take full effect in 2025. Huge for CS pic.twitter.com/BZwog06W8r
With tournament organizers having existing commitments to franchise leagues and partner teams, the requirements are expected to take effect in 2025. Valve expects some "rough edges" in the transition but says that they are "committed to the long-term health of Counter-Strike as a sport."
While third party organizers will no-doubt feel this news affect their bottom lines, the change has received a largely positive reception from general esports fans and competitors.
YES! Every esports game needs to go this route! OPEN CIRCUIT! So much talent r gate kept cuz of this https://t.co/f5DHrkaOwa
— Lord Bugz (@DarylJawn) August 3, 2023
This is how it should be with esports competitions. Excited to see the direction of CS2! https://t.co/4NfMb88tNU
— Jorge Sanchez (@HispanicPhenom) August 3, 2023
CS2 system is going to be opposite to what we have in VALORANT right now, dunno what to say, wont be surprised if many players will go back to CS after this (unless RIOT will do some changes regarding their system especially in T2) https://t.co/OFQuYdnMsL
— B8 arch 🇺🇦 (@archiliciouz) August 3, 2023
Zack is the Publishing Manager for Esports Illustrated. He grew up playing videos as a kid, mainly sports games and the Call of Duty series. Before his work at Esports Illustrated, Zack published content for the NFL Draft for various sites since 2017, including partner sites on FanNation and has appeared on various shows across the country and videos across the FanNation group. Outside of work, Zack enjoys spending time with his wife and three children. He loves playing football and video games with his son, taking his two daughters to get their favorite treats, and binge-watching shows with his wife. Zack began covering Esports at the end of 2022, mainly covering the Call of Duty League.