The income of teams at the major in Cologne collapsed due to the new sticker sales system

Representatives of CS2 teams spoke about the consequences of changing the system for selling stickers at majors. The move away from sticker capsules and a shift to a new distribution model has led to financial difficulties for a number of organizations. Material with comments from representatives of the eSports scene was published on .org.

Club employees reported that they made financial plans, counting on income from the sale of stickers under the previous system, but after the change in the model, expectations were not met. Thus, co-founder of Sinners Esports Moritz Askadar Straube said that the organization expected to compensate for losses by entering the IEM Cologne Major 2026.

According to .org, the 50/50 split of payments created difficulties for a number of existing contracts, because some of them were drawn up taking into account the previous system. 100 Thieves staffer Graham messioso Pitt said this could lead to disagreements between clubs and players. Since the rule change occurred shortly before the start of the major in Cologne, some teams were forced to reconsider the contracts of esports players.

A month after the end of the major, sticker sales remain low. According to one of the participants in the first stage of the major, his organization receives about $100 per day from sales. The current situation, according to club employees, may negatively affect the development of the shooting range 2 scene.

One of the teams that left the major at the first stage reported that they earned approximately $60 thousand from the sale of stickers. At the same time, at StarLadder Budapest Major 2025, capsules brought in about $600 thousand (before the distribution of income between players). “This is a disaster for the scene,” an unnamed organization told .org.

Before the major in Cologne, Valve abandoned capsules with stickers. Gamers could directly purchase any sticker. After this, the editor-in-chief of .org Milan Striker Svezhda said that players and clubs may begin to conflict because of this decision. The owner of Aurora Gaming Valery L3rich Kharitonov noted that clubs from the tier-3 scene will have a difficult time due to the new sales format.