Valve announce RMR changes

Valve have teased a significant overhaul to the qualification process for RMR events, which should make it easier for teams that are successful in the scene make their way into the RMR regardless of their performance in the previous Major.

While Valve was relatively sparse on details, the big idea is that Valve will be directly inviting teams to RMR events depending on their performance in Valve events and third-party tournaments. For example, this would likely see Danish squad Astralis receive a direct invite to the RMR rather than having to play in the notoriously fickle open qualifiers in Europe due to their then-recent 3rd-4th place finish at IEM Cologne.

To use a more NA-centric example, a team like Complexity could avoid having to play the open qualifiers for the BLAST.tv Paris Major American RMR if they perform well in the first half of 2023. Outside of the brief statement posted below, Valve still have much to reveal about how this "Regional Standings" process will function, but it is a positive step as Valve are seemingly listened to a consistent piece of community feedback about their RMR process.

A New Path to the Majors

Starting with the 2023 Paris Major, we’re going to change the way we invite teams to the RMRs.

Previously teams entered the RMRs by direct invitation, or through a series of open qualifiers. For Paris, some teams who aren’t directly invited will get to skip the open qualifiers–teams that consistently perform well in Valve and third-party events will be directly invited to a closed qualifier. There, they’ll compete against teams that enter from an open qualifier.