CS:GO developer Valve is giving tournament organizers until June 21 to submit proposals for hosting the May and November 2023 Majors, according to an email reportedly sent to organizers that was acquired by HLTV.
In the email, Valve also informed the organizers of its plans to make its selections for the 2023 Majors as soon as June 28, just a week after the deadline. Additionally, Valve informed the email recipients that the tournament organizers will be responsible for any regional qualifying events, including Regional Major Ranking (RMR) events and open qualifiers.
Valve also included a number of things it is looking for in particular when selecting an organizer to host the Majors, such as:
- Events that take place in regions where the organizer has previously held successful events.
- Specific details in the proposal regarding event services and features.
- A robust distribution plan for streaming
- An event in a time zone that is “convenient” for a significant proportion of viewers. Valve indicated that CS:GO‘s “prime times” are 9am and 2pm CT.
Of the five most recent Majors, including the upcoming one in Rio this year, two have been hosted by ESL (IEM Katowice 2019 and IEM Rio 2022), two have been held by PGL (Stockholm 2021 and Antwerp 2022), and one has been held by StarLadder (Berlin 2019). Of the 18 total Majors (including Rio), ESL has hosted the most with seven total. DreamHack, FACEIT, ELEAGUE, and Major League Gaming have also held Majors in the past.
There are a number of other organizers who have never hosted Majors in the past to consider as well. BLAST commissioner Andrew Haworth has said that the company has kept open discussions with Valve about hosting a Major or RMR event, but he admitted last June that it’s not something the Danish company is “focused on achieving” at the time. Flashpoint re-emerged in 2021 after a couple of rough opening seasons to host a European RMR event for PGL Stockholm in its third season.
