The BLAST TV Paris Major is now only days away, but the in-game viewer pass, Pick’Ems, and team and player stickers are still not released – setting a record for the latest release of these items before a CS:GO Major.
Unlike Valve’s other big esport, Dota2, the CS:GO Majors do not feature a crowdfunded prize pool. Instead, teams and players are supported through in-game items like stickers, souvenir cases and the viewer pass, revenues from which are split 50/50.
Sticker money, in particular, is a crucial revenue stream for many of the teams competing in CS:GO, delivering seven-figure sums to orgs in years gone by. But, as the Challengers Stage of the BLAST TV Paris Major is fast approaching on May 8, none of the items are available yet in-game.
When will BLAST Major stickers be added?
For past Majors, these items have been released anywhere from three weeks to five days in advance. At the time of writing, we are four days out from the first matches in Paris, and still no stickers are in-game.
This now marks the longest delay for Major items to be added, before a Major begins.
Despite a poorly received joke from NIP’s CEO that there were in fact no stickers, they are indeed coming for this year’s major, and players have been excitedly submitting their autograph designs.
The majority of the community expected the items to go live on May 3 at the very latest, and streamers stayed up late in some cases waiting for the announcement.
Even BLAST itself appears to be in the waiting room with the rest of the pro scene and player base, judging by their social media posts.
It is now expected that the items will go live on Thursday, May 4 – as a Friday / weekend release would be a risky move. Last year’s Rio Major stickers required a series of updates, and so Valve would likely want to give themselves time to resolve any such issues before the weekend hits.
There is also the not-insignificant matter of the Pick’Ems, where players can predict which teams will qualify from the Challengers stage, and rank up their tournament coin with correct picks. At most, players will have only a few days to lock in their selections.
As for a time for the drop, it’s purely guesswork. Previous releases, like the Rio Stickers and the Anubis collection case released between 4pm and 5pm PT (Valve’s timezone in Seattle).
Part of the delay could in fact be related to the recent release of the Anubis collection case, which has been very lucrative at $2 each, earning Valve over $10 million already. When the Major items release, players may lose some interest in this new case.
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