StarLadder has announced that it has adjusted the format for its StarSeries Budapest Counter-Strike 2 tournament.
As a result of the adjustment, the regional qualifiers and LAN group stage have been replaced.
Instead of qualifiers for North America, South America and Europe taking place, a single European closed qualifier will take place online. From August 13th to 17th, 2025, 16 European teams based on the Valve Regional Standings (VRS) will compete for four places at the Main Stage.
The Main Stage phase of the tournament, taking place from September 18th to 21st, remains unchanged. Four teams from the online qualifier will compete against four invited teams based on their VRS for a share of a $500,000 (~£371,695) prize pool.
The Main Event will see the eight teams competing in a double-elimination, best-of-three bracket to determine the winner.
StarLadder says the decision to adjust the StarSeries 19 format was to ‘minimise scheduling conflicts with other CS2 tournaments’ and to ‘streamline operations.’
This isn’t the first time StarLadder has adjusted plans for its tournaments taking place in 2025. In January, it cancelled its StarSeries Season 19 event, resulting in the event organiser hosting four events across the year.
StarLadder In 2025
2025 has been a year of growth for StarLadder, following its acquisition by NODWIN Gaming in January. Alongside its StarSeries tournament series, the event organiser will host the second Counter-Strike Major of the year.
Taking place from November 24th to December 14th in Budapest, Hungary, the event will round off the 2025 season with the top 32 teams from the VRS competing for a share of $1.25m (~£929,662) in prize money and a chance to etch their name in Counter-Strike history.
Shortly after the event’s announcement, Valve cancelled the Major Regional Qualifiers (MRQs), making the VRS the sole determining factor in deciding the teams competing at the tournament.
