The financial lifetime that qualifying for a Counter-Strike Major provided for smaller organizations has been wiped out, with Valve overhauling the sticker system at IEM Cologne 2026. Fans will benefit but the teams themselves will now have to rethink the economics of competing at the highest level.
The change, which rolled out with Valve's May 22 patch, replaced the long-running random capsule model with a direct token shop where fans purchase exactly the sticker they want at dynamic, demand-driven prices. The update weighed around £1.60 GB and also introduced souvenir skin crafting — but it's the sticker revenue implications that could change the entire way the scene functions.
