Valve bans CS2 skin gambling and case opening sites from jerseys at events

Valve has applied an update to the Counter-Strike 2 Tournament Operating Requirements (TOR) alongside adjusting its Limited Game Tournament License, restricting how companies can use its intellectual property (IP).

As a result of the change, CS2 tournament organisers are now required to stop teams from promoting skin betting and case-opening websites through player jerseys during Ranked and Unranked events.

The update to the TOR and the tournament license now aligns Unranked and Ranked CS2 events, where no logos or advertisements from case-opening, skin trading or skin gambling sites can appear during broadcasts.

According to the Limited Game Tournament License, event operators “must not distribute or display, including on team jerseys or in any other content that may be visible during the broadcast, any content or material that either violates Valve IP or the terms of the Steam Subscriber Agreement.”

Additionally, the license specifies that tournament organisers can no longer sign sponsorships from sponsors “that generate revenue through activities that violate applicable Valve agreements or violate local law or rely on Valve’s game economics.”

It is worth noting that this change will not affect non-skin-related gambling sponsorships and platforms.

First reported by Dust2.us, the changes could have a significant impact on the Counter-Strike 2 ecosystem. Several teams competing in high-profile events are sponsored by skin gambling and case-opening sites, and have previously featured those logos on their jerseys.

The full impact of Valve’s changes to the TOR and its tournament license has yet to emerge as organisations and tournament operators adjust to adhere to the new ruling.

Teams competing at the StarLadder Budapest Major 2025 seemingly had advanced warning of the change, with the SkinRave sponsorship from NRG‘s jersey disappearing. Moreover, CSFAIL‘s logo vanished from Aurora Gaming‘s apparel.

With teams and individual players frequently collaborating with skin sites on various initiatives, it will be interesting to see the long-term effects of Valve’s latest adjustment to its guidelines.