Valve has announced new regulations regarding invitations for major esports tournaments, tightening the conditions for wildcard entries. According to the recent updates:

• The minimum number of invites for a tier-one event has increased from 16 to 20.
• Tier-two events are now restricted to inviting only teams ranked lower than 12th in global standings, a reduction of four places from previous guidelines.

For events scheduled from 2027 onward, the announcement date will now be set 22 months before the main event, down from 24 months. Additionally, the deadline for organizers to share information about tier-one and wildcard events has changed to ten months prior to the event, down from 12.

A significant part of these updates focuses on tournament seeding. Instead of the previous VRS system used for invitation rankings, events can now utilize the VRS version included in their announcement.

Valve has also made wildcard requirements significantly more stringent. To be eligible for a wildcard invite, teams must be ranked lower than 12 across all VRS lists and meet one of the following criteria:

• Include at least three players who have been a part of a top 12 Roster on an Invite VRS List within the last six months.
• Achieve first or second place in any tournament of equal or lesser tier within the last six months.

Instead of providing a broad geographical area (like North America or Europe), organizers are now required to disclose the specific visa territory where the event will occur.