Valve cancel qualifiers for StarLadder Budapest Major 2025

Counter-Strike 2 developers have canceled the regional qualifiers (MRQ) for the upcoming Major in Budapest. All 32 participants of the event will be determined based on the VRS rating. StarLadder announced this via its website.

According to the official statement, Valve justified their decision as follows:

One of the goals of the VRS is to standardize community events so that they can be integrated with the Majors. At this point we believe that a separate qualification process for the Major is both unnecessary and disruptive. Therefore, we’ve made the decision to cancel the Fall 2025 MRQs. Instead, the 32 teams participating in the Budapest Major will be invited directly from the VRS.

"We support this change and believe that every official ranking tournament will be even more important and the tournament schedule will be more consistent", – the statement from StarLadder claims.

The date for issuing invites to StarLadder Budapest Major 2025 remains the same – October 8, 2025. More detailed information about invites to the Major will appear after the end of BLAST.tv Austin Major 2025.

StarLadder Budapest Major 2025 will take place from November 24 to December 14, 2025, with 32 teams competing for $1.25 million in prizes. The format of the event will be identical to the ongoing BLAST.tv Austin Major 2025 in Austin, but in Budapest all stages of the competition will play out with live audience.

Origin: major.starladder.com