BLAST has revealed that they will implement some “tweaks” to their 2025 tournament circuit in order to comply with the latest regulations set forth by Valve. While the Danish tournament organizer’s initial plans, which were unveiled in June during the Spring Final, remain mostly intact, these adjustments are aimed at ensuring seamless alignment with the updated guidelines.
Modifications have been implemented to align with Valve’s updated regulations regarding wildcard invites. This includes ensuring that there is representation from various regions at the highly competitive eight-team Rivals event.
This upcoming year promises to be bustling for BLAST as they gear up to host an impressive lineup of six prestigious tier-one LAN events. Adding to the excitement, they will also oversee the highly anticipated 32-team Austin Major alongside eight regional qualifiers known as ‘The Risings.’ These events mark a significant adaptation for BLAST as they navigate the new landscape following the conclusion of their partner agreements, ensuring a dynamic and competitive environment for fans and players alike.
A total of $4,000,000 will be distributed as participation fees during the non-Major BLAST tournaments, rewarding teams and players for their involvement and commitment to the competition. In addition, $2,000,000 has been allocated to the innovative ‘Frequent Flyers Programme,’ which offers credit-based incentives for dedicated participants. Furthermore, the overall prize pool for the year stands at an impressive $2,500,000, although the specific breakdown and distribution of these prizes will be announced at a later date, creating anticipation among the competitors.
Contents
BLAST Fees Distribution by Seeding
BLAST Bounty
- 1st – 8th: $40,000 per team
- 9th – 16th: $26,250 per team
- 17th – 32nd: $7,500 per team
BLAST Open
- 1st – 12th: $45,000 per team
- Others: $10,000 each for the 1st – 4th ranked teams in EU, NA, SA & Asia Rising
BLAST Rivals
- 1st – 8th: $81,250 per team
‘The Bounty’ is the first event of the season. It will include 32 teams competing in a best-of-three single-elimination format. The event will start online, and the top eight teams will advance to the BLAST studio in Copenhagen. Out of the 32 teams, 28 will come from the Valve Regional Standings, and four will be wildcard teams, which is an increase from the originally announced two.
Wildcard teams, according to Valve, must have at least three players who were part of a top-eight team in the VRS within the last 12 months or who have won a Tier 1 event during that time. BLAST will announce how they will choose these invites soon.
‘The Open’ is an exciting competition featuring 16 teams competing in group stages, with six advancing to showcase their talents at the MEO Arena in Lisbon in Spring and Wembley Arena in London in Fall. Additionally, 12 teams will be invited from the VRS, and four teams will qualify through regional competitions known as ‘The Risings.’
The group stage of the tournament will be held in Copenhagen, with playoff teams flying to the U.K. and Portugal later, according to BLAST. ‘The Rising’ gives lower-ranked teams a chance to qualify for ‘The Open’ through open and closed slots, a rare opportunity in the busy 2025 schedule.
Four teams from open qualifiers will join 12 VRS-invited teams in the closed qualifier, with four of the 16 advancing to an eight-team final event online. The four highest-ranked regional teams will also participate, each receiving a $10,000 participation fee. This will occur in all four regions.
‘The Rivals’ operates as a Wildcard event, allowing it to bypass Valve’s rules on eight-team events. Since BLAST hosts only two global non-wildcard tier-one events, they can’t issue eight invites as planned. Instead, they must provide four wildcard invites, one for each region.
Invitations for the upcoming events are set to be sent out just over a month prior to their start date. BLAST has established a target deadline of December 16 for the launch of the inaugural edition of ‘The Bounty,’ creating excitement as participants prepare for this highly anticipated competition.
BLAST Invite Dates
Unless an exception is made to include the Shanghai Major, BLAST will use the November 1, 2024, regional standings to issue their invitations.
The Valve rulebook states that if the Invite Date is in the last week of a month, the VRS from the 1st of that month will determine Qualifying Ranks. If not, the VRS from the previous month will be used. This affects potential invites for Fluxo, MIBR, and M80 at the bottom of the top 28. BLAST did not respond about which VRS they will use.
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