In mid-July, StarLadder officials suddenly announced a major adjustment to the StarSeries S19 competition system, canceling the offline group stage originally scheduled to be held in Budapest in August. Instead, there will be a seven-day European closed qualifier, scheduled for August 1st to 7th, which will be conducted entirely online. This decision was announced less than a month before the original offline competition, which caused widespread controversy and doubts.
Change details
According to the information released on the StarLadder official website, the adjustment mainly includes:
Budapest group stage is cancelled;
The new European closed qualifier will be held online from August 1st to 7th;
The number of teams will be expanded from the original 8 to 16 teams;
Finally, 8 teams will be selected to advance to the offline knockout stage in Budapest (originally scheduled for the final stage).
Although the offline final stage will still be held as scheduled from August 23rd to September 1st, the cancellation of the offline group stage has undoubtedly greatly changed the competitive structure of the entire season.
At a Glance – StarSeries 2025 Format Overview
| Stage | Format | Dates | Notes |
| Closed Qualifier | Online (Europe) | Aug 1–7, 2025 | 16 teams, 8 advance |
| Main Event | LAN (Budapest) | Sep 18–22, 2025 | 8 teams, $250,000 prize pool |
| Venue | Papp László Arena | Budapest, Hungary | Spectators allowed |
NA region is most affected
The change in the competition system has a particularly serious impact on North American teams. The original offline qualifiers for North America were scheduled to be held in Budapest from July 13 to 14, and the relevant teams and personnel had arranged visas and flights. However, just one day before the game, StarLadder suddenly announced the cancellation of the regional event, which caused the North American participants to face huge economic losses.
According to Dust2.us, teams including NRG and Party Astronauts invested a lot of resources in the preparation stage. Some team members said: “We just got the visa a few hours before we knew the cancellation news, and now all our efforts are in vain.”
This change does not provide a clear compensation mechanism, nor does it indicate whether a new entry channel will be established for North America in the future.
Official response
StarLadder said in the announcement that the adjustment was “for operational efficiency and viewing experience considerations.” The organizer emphasized that the online qualifiers can cover more European teams and help improve the overall competitiveness of the game. However, the official did not directly respond to the doubts about the cancellation of the North American event, only saying that “the feasibility of future regional competitions is being evaluated.”
It is understood that the reorganization of the competition system may be related to cost control. The venue, accommodation and visa management costs in Budapest are significantly higher than the online pre-qualification mode, and the cancellation of some offline stages is expected to reduce budget pressure.
Data analysis and Community reaction
StarSeries S19 is one of the important international events in the second half of 2025. It was originally planned to introduce teams from multiple regions to compete on the same stage offline. But after the reconstruction of the competition system, European teams will gain significant advantages:
16 teams participated in the closed pre-qualification, and the competition was more intense.
European teams are more likely to enter the Budapest knockout than North American and Asian teams.
The original plan of global multi-regional offline collisions has been weakened.
The CS2 professional circle has long faced the problem of “regional imbalance”, and this adjustment may further aggravate this gap.
This adjustment not only disrupted the team’s preparation rhythm, but also caused strong dissatisfaction in the community.
Players criticized the chaotic organization of the event on Reddit and Twitter;
Several professional players and coaches said that “this is irresponsible behavior towards the participating teams”;
Commentators and analysts also believe that StarLadder has failed to demonstrate its due ability to operate the event.
Fans in North America and Asia-Pacific in particular generally believe that StarLadder’s move has weakened the fairness of global events.
Conclusion
The temporary adjustment of StarSeries S19 once again exposed the problems in the organization of CS2 international events. From operational transparency to the guarantee of participating teams, to the allocation of resources in global competitions, these issues need to be taken seriously by future organizers.
Although the European closed qualifiers can improve the level of confrontation, organizers must realize that the fairness and globality of the event are its long-term value.
StarLadder must restore trust through subsequent arrangements and a more stable competition structure, otherwise it will be difficult to maintain its dominant position in the future CS2 event system.
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