Valve has tightened the rules for tournament organizers, explicitly banning advertising and sponsorship from gambling services tied to in-game cases and skin trading. The new requirements apply to both ranked and unranked championships: sites that allow users to open cases or buy and sell skins can no longer be promoted at Valve-sanctioned events, and their logos are forbidden on team jerseys or any broadcast-visible material.
The company published the updated terms on its official channels, noting that licensees must not distribute or display content that violates Valve’s intellectual property rights or Steam’s service terms. The guidance specifically calls out websites where cases are opened or skins are sold as examples of prohibited content, and it bars tournament organizers from allowing such materials to appear in any tournament broadcasts.
Under the revised rules, organizers may not accept sponsorship or other support from companies whose revenue is derived from activities that breach applicable Valve agreements or local law, or otherwise exploit Valve’s in-game economy. The policy highlights resellers and firms that interact with players’ inventories as examples of entities that fall under the restriction.
The announcement makes clear that visual identifiers—such as logos on player shirts—are covered by the prohibition. Licensees are required to prevent any content that infringes Valve’s intellectual property or Steam terms from appearing during event coverage, and to refuse sponsors whose business models depend on such activity.
Reports suggest Valve began moving against these types of sponsors earlier, with enforcement activity dating back to November. According to the editor-in-chief of a related esports outlet, tournament rankings and sanctioned status have already been revoked in some cases where events were sponsored by sites offering case openings.
The update represents a continuation of Valve’s efforts to curb gambling-related influence within the competitive ecosystem and to reduce commercial ties between official events and services that enable case openings, skin sales, or skin-based betting. Organizers and teams working with Valve-affiliated events will need to review and adjust their sponsorship agreements to comply with the new requirements.