Valve has unveiled the regional invite allocation for the StarLadder Budapest Major, the second Counter-Strike 2 (CS2) Major of 2025.
Within Valve’s latest Major Supplemental Rulebook, Europe has allocated five spots for each for Stage 3 and Stage 2 . Moreover, the Americas will receive two slots for both stages, whilst Asia has received one invite for both Stage 3 and Stage 2.
These changes have been made as a result of performances from the BLAST.tv Austin Major.
The 16 direct invites to Stage 1 are branded as TBD, meaning that it has yet to be confirmed how this allocation will be split.
Based on the results of BLAST.tv Austin Major, Europe has lost one Stage 3 slot, whilst the Americas region has gained one. This is likely due to performances by the event’s Brazilian teams, which included FURIA and PaiN Gaming scoring top-eight finishes in Texas.
However, for Stage 2, Europe and Asia have both gained a spot while the Americas have lost two.
The previous slot allocation saw Europe have six Stage 3 spots, the Americas with one, and Asia with another.
For Stage 2, Europe had four, with the Americas holding the rest. Notably, Asia previously had no Stage 2 invites.
Further Major Rulebook Changes
In addition to the updated invite allocation for the Budapest Major, Valve has also revealed that invited teams are unable to change rosters after the invites are distributed.
“The registered roster must match the invited roster. The registered roster may optionally include one substitute player that, were they to replace any core player, would not alter the Regional Assignment of the Core Lineup,” noted Valve.
The five players listed under the name of the organisation at the time of invite distribution are classified as the team’s core. Teams can register an additional substitute if the player doesn’t change the roster’s region.
Prior to unveiling the regional invite allocation, Valve recently introduced a new sub-region for the European VRS.
