The community reacted to the restriction on changing VRS regions: “Sashi Esport was the last straw”
A new three-month restriction on changing regions in the VRS rankings, added yesterday by Valve, has sparked a strong reaction within the community. Talents, players, and esports figures are sharing their thoughts on the change.
Most of the community was satisfied with the measures taken by the developers:
Duncan “Thorin” Shields shared his thoughts on Valve’s decision:
This is a monumental event for the entire scene, one that affects far more than just BC.Game Esports. s1mple’s participation in the Major would have attracted a massive audience and significantly boosted viewer interest in the early stages of the tournament.
Jakob “Pimp” Winneke praised Valve’s prompt response and commented on the current situation at BC.Game Esports:
A wonderful and swift response from Valve in this situation—I like that. The developers are under serious pressure right now, and, it must be said, quite justifiably so. However, this was the right and timely response to a problem that needed to be solved. Great job, Valve. Maybe next year you’ll tackle anti-cheat?
BC.Game Esports has faced a harsh reality. It tried to outsmart the system, but in the end, the system outsmarted it. It’s hard to feel sorry for them, but it’s easy to sympathize with asap. I hope he can stay on the roster and get a fair chance to qualify for the tournament.
Alex “Mauisnake” Ellenberg commented on BC.Game Esports’ competitive potential:
asap, Senzu, and mzinho are actually a really cool three-man Asian core. The situation with BC.Game Esports is truly regrettable.
Aleksandar “kassad” Trifunović supported Valve’s ban on region switching:
They nailed it! This should have been done a long time ago. And it’s a very interesting approach—let’s see how teams will now try to get around this rule.
Dustin “dusT” Moore commented on the untimely implementation of Valve’s new rule:
Overall, this is an excellent rule change for future CS Majors—there’s no doubt about that. But specifically for Singapore, this change seems like it was thrown together at the last minute. Adding a new rule in the middle of the season so close to a Major is just off-putting. It solves an existing problem, but it should have been introduced starting with the next event in the series.
James “BanKs” Banks welcomed Valve’s response to the abuse of region switching:
Valve has responded to the abuse of VRS region switching. Keep it up!
Jonathan “Devilwalk” Lundberg praised Valve for updating the Major qualification rules:
Great job, Valve.
Conner “Scrawny” Girvan commented on Valve’s strict and rare measures:
Valve may not wield its authority often, but when it does, it strikes with maximum precision and force.
Janko “YNk” Paunović approved of Valve’s new rules taking effect immediately:
This is a very good change. It might seem strange that they’re implementing it right now rather than starting next season, but Valve likes to nip such problems in the bud, so to speak.
Mikhail “Dosia” Stolyarov praised Valve’s quick response to the exploitation of loopholes in the rules:
Great job, Valve. It was foolish to think that the developers wouldn’t react to how some teams are exploiting loopholes. But that was a really quick response. How about doing the same for anti-cheat?
Donald “voo” Parkhurst linked the immediate enforcement of the rules to the precedent set by the Sashi Esport case:
The sad thing is that Valve most likely wouldn’t have imposed this restriction retroactively if it weren’t for the recent passport scandal at Sashi Esport involving a player’s last-minute change of citizenship.
BIG and MOUZ co-founder Tom Jan Lemke confirmed the key role the Sashi Esport precedent played in the developers’ decision:
After speaking with Valve, they explained to me that it was specifically the situation surrounding Sashi Esport that was the last straw—specifically, the dual citizenship issue. This is madness.
Brazilian sniper Adriano “WOOD7” Serato fully supported the stricter regulations and recalled an old precedent in the North American region:
I fully support this change; it’s more than necessary. What Liquid did in the last cycle in North America was fundamentally wrong even back then. It’s good that now, amid all these mass moves to Asia, Valve has decided to put a stop to such actions.
Brazilian esports player João “felps” Vasconcelos called Valve’s decision the right one because it protects the interests of smaller regions:
I think Valve’s decision is the right one. Previously, this opened the door for a stronger team to take a slot away from a less developed region. With this change, s1mple’s team loses its chance to qualify for this Major. Do you think this change is fair?
Brazilian coach Luiz “peacemaker” Tadeu praised Valve for immediately cracking down on attempts to circumvent the rules:
There’s nothing left for those who like to exploit loopholes and gaps in the rules. What will BC.Game Esports say now? Valve reacted immediately, and they deserve nothing but praise for that.
FlyQuest President Christopher “PapaSmithy” Smith endorsed Valve’s efforts to combat abuse related to changing competitive regions:
It’s great to see that Valve has taken the issue of region switching in CS2 seriously. FlyQuest welcomes teams that commit to the Asian region for a full season. There’s no place for cynical last-minute regional tourism on the professional scene, so it’s good that this loophole has been closed.
Brazilian player Kaue “kauez” Kaschuk approved of Valve’s actions and suggested that the developers intend to punish violators:
A very good move on Valve’s part. I have no doubt that the company deliberately waited for a team to make this switch so they could then impose the ban as a punishment.
Brazilian esports player Paulo “land1n” Felipe shared a brief comment praising Valve:
Good job, Valve. You nailed it this time.
Brazilian coach João “horvy” Horvat called the introduction of a three-month limit for changing regions fair:
I think the rule Valve introduced is entirely fair. You need to be in the rankings for three months to become part of a region. That’s that.
Brazilian rifler Iago “deemO” Henrique called Valve’s decision a step toward fairness and urged an update to the sticker system:
A wonderful move by Valve. Before, things came too easily to some guys, but now the conditions are fairer for everyone. All that’s left is to change the sticker system.
Fernando “fer” Alvarenga mocked the idea of an easy path to the Major:
Well, buddy! I thought it was that simple: just change your region to get into the Major. That loophole doesn’t work anymore.
Former Yawara E-Sports rifler Filipe “pancc” Martins praised Valve for preventing chaos in the competitive system:
Valve really hit the nail on the head. This rule was sorely needed, considering the chaos the current format could have turned into. BC.Game Esports simply took advantage of this confusion to escape Europe and secure an easy path to the Major.
Brazilian coach Rodrigo “pino” Manarino noted the importance of protecting clubs’ honest investments from underhanded schemes:
Everything’s great—they’re throwing money around left and right, while many organizations are putting absolutely everything into a single project, only to have their slot stolen because of someone’s trickery. Great job, Valve—finally, at least one good decision in 20 years.
Richard Lewis bluntly inquired about the current status of teams that had tried to change their registration:
So how’s your Asian regional citizenship coming along today, you idiot?
British commentator and analyst Neo “Ne0Kai” Kane approved the sanctions against BC.Game Esports and Sashi Esport:
Glad to see that Valve has finally taken action. It’s clear that BC.Game Esports and Sashi Esport must be punished for their shenanigans. However, BC.Game Esports may remain in the Asian region for the long term, which is interesting in the context of the next Major. As for Sashi Esport, which signed the Australians to five-month contracts, I’m incredibly glad that this update has derailed its plans.
Daniel “mavrick” Lang, a programmer for tournament organizer DFRAG, was surprised by the speed of Valve’s decision:
I didn’t expect Valve to act so quickly—and, I must say, quite harshly. I thought the rule update would happen after the Major was over. I genuinely feel for the guys—if they’re simply sent home right after they arrive, it will be a huge disappointment for them, since the tournament could have been a major milestone in their careers. Nevertheless, we’ll be holding last-chance qualifiers for the DFRAG Invitational. I think this option will work if BC.Game Esports or Sashi Esports want to come to Australia to compete for the eighth slot. The only question is whether they’ll be able to get their visas in time, since players from Ukraine have historically had problems with this.
Bounty Hunters Esports player Gabriel “ponter” Amaral called Valve’s decision the right one:
“For me, this is the right decision on Valve’s part, but at the same time, the developers have ruined all the plans for the teams that were able to take advantage of this loophole in the rules. I feel like this is setting the stage for a serious controversy. What do you think?”
Commentator Matthew “HAzE” Stott called the timing of the rules’ implementation—just before the Singapore Major—ill-advised:
Great change, but terrible timing. Typical Valve. A change like this should have been implemented in the next Major cycle, not 27 days before the deadline for sending out Major invites. In my opinion, this is simply unacceptable.
However, among those who spoke out, there were also those who had mixed feelings about the changes:
Sebastián “KRL” Pérez criticized the logic behind Valve’s decision regarding BC.Game Esports:
So BC.Game Esports signs three players from the top 10 in the Asian region, but they’re not allowed to represent Asia? They should have simply banned changes to esports citizenship. If a player has multiple nationalities and uses one of them, they shouldn’t be allowed to change it later. But banning BC.Game Esports from representing Asia makes absolutely no sense.
Nikola “Lobanjica” Mijomanović criticized Valve for updating the regulations too late and for its indifference toward clubs:
The fact that the community is taking Valve’s rule changes a month before the Major in stride explains why things are so bad in CS and with skins. The developers aren’t afraid to implement any of their silly ideas without any timely warning or announcement. That’s why we have chickens in the game—these brainless developers decided that a shooter was missing a pet in the lobby, while enemies are running around with spinbots in every match. Imagine if someone in Formula 1 went and changed the engine rules a week before the race.
These teams spent money on players and operated within the existing system. It’s not their fault that the CS2 developers are incapable of creating proper regulations. I’m just calling a spade a spade—make changes on time, not on the fly, without a care for the people, teams, and players. Once again, I’m convinced of the developers’ incompetence.
Michael “YouM3” Cassidy spoke out against retroactively penalizing teams due to the rule update:
Although part of me thinks “good riddance,” in reality I’m against penalizing teams retroactively due to mid-season changes to the VRS rules. Valve knew this could be abused—as seen with the Liquid situation earlier this year—so they should have announced it during or immediately after IEM Cologne.
Brazilian esports player Lucas “decenty” Baselar criticized Valve’s ranking system:
Developers, this VRS system has become one of the worst things you’ve ever done. Please get rid of it and bring back the RMR tournaments.
K27 CEO Ivan “Kondrat” Kondratov called it unfair that BC.Game Esports was denied the chance to earn stickers:
This is unfair. The system shouldn’t work this way. Regardless of how everyone feels about the region change in VRS, applying this rule retroactively to teams that have already met all the requirements is yet another hasty decision on Valve’s part. BC.Game Esports will eventually receive its stickers anyway, but now it will have to pour huge amounts of money into this roster for at least another six months, even though it did everything right on its part. If the club had known this would happen, they would have already traveled to Shanghai with someone else instead of electroNic. So, in a sense, their stickers were simply taken away from them.
Yesterday, Valve introduced a three-month restriction on changing VRS regions. A little later, the developers explained the nature of the change in more detail and described how it will affect the distribution of invitations to the PGL Major Singapore 2026.
Photo: BC.Game Esports.
