Valve’s Sticker Overhaul Squeezes Counter-Strike Esports Teams as Polymarket Expands Into Space

Valve removes capsules but keeps (some of) the gamble as betting brands move closer

Valve replaced Counter-Strike 2’s randomized Major sticker capsules with a direct-purchase system ahead of IEM Cologne, allowing users to spend tokens on the exact team or player sticker they wanted. Major stickers are cosmetic decals of team logos and player autographs that fans apply to their in-game weapons, a Counter-Strike collecting staple for over a decade. Until this year, they arrived in randomized capsules: fans bought a sealed pack and opened it, hoping for a rare holo or gold variant, much like a physical trading-card pack.

Prices moved according to relative demand. Valve routed 50% of Major Shop and Major pass revenue into a royalty pool, splitting it 5% to the tournament organizer and 45% among the 32 teams, with each team’s share set by its Valve Regional Standings rank and Major performance. Valve separately mandated an automatic 50-50 split between each team and its players, replacing terms that organizations had previously negotiated individually.

The first reported payouts under that model have alarmed participating organizations. One team eliminated in Stage 1 told esports website HLTV it had earned approximately $60,000, with another $60,000 distributed to its players. The report compared that with figures from the previous Major in Budapest, where Contender sticker capsules made around $600,000 before any split with the players.

“This is a catastrophe for the CS scene,” the unnamed Stage 1 organization’s source said. SINNERS co-founder Moritz Straube said his club spent between $25,000 and $35,000 on first-quarter flights and hotels while pursuing Major qualification, expecting the sticker payment to recover those costs.

The payout figures are self-reported samples rather than audited tournament totals – with HLTV’s report stating many orgs declined to report figures because of confidentiality agreements signed with Valve. The developer-publisher has not published Cologne’s complete sales or royalty data. They nevertheless show why lower-tier orgs viewed Major qualification as more than a competitive achievement: sticker revenue could finance salaries, transfers, academies, and another season of travel, which, along with its prestige, is why it has always been a critical target for teams to qualify for. Prominent org Gaimin Gladiators shut down its CS division on June 22, explicitly citing “recent changes to the Major ecosystem and revenue structure.”

Valve said capsules were popular, but that some players preferred buying specific stickers, and users in certain regions could not purchase randomized products. It is just one of the in-game cosmetic options that have come under scrutiny. The capsule overhaul arrived three months after New York Attorney General Letitia James sued Valve, alleging that Counter-Strike loot boxes function like illegal gambling and expose younger players to casino-style mechanics.

The games company has not identified the New York case or gambling regulation as the reason it ended sticker capsules, and the company continues to contest the attorney general’s allegations.

Meanwhile, wagering businesses are expanding around professional competition. Counter-Strike esports has a larger third-party presence than almost all other esports, and its longevity and mature themes are part of why it has an outstanding share of the esports betting pie. Tournament organizer BLAST named Polymarket its official prediction partner for 2026, integrating the platform across seven Counter-Strike and Dota 2 events through broadcasts, analyst-desk segments, arena branding and fan activations.

Team sponsorships have long been showing the same trend. NAVI lists GG.BET as its title partner and Limitless as its official prediction-market partner (with the latter deal kicking off at the IEM Cologne Major itself), while G2 placed crypto casino Betpanda on its Counter-Strike jerseys as its global betting partner for 2026.

This is part of a wider trend in the esports space: traders recently placed more than $558,000 on Esports World Cup events, while Riot Games made Kick an official broadcaster after previously restricting betting sponsors. The Paris tournament itself carries a $75 million prize pool.