Teams sponsored by gambling companies have reportedly been told to change their names, logos and stickers for the PGL Counter-Strike 2 (CS2) Major Singapore 2026, and were given about 24 hours to propose replacements.
Four CS2 esports teams are mainly affected by the rule: BC.Game Esports, 1win, BetBoom and PARIVISION. BC.Game has reached Major Stage 1 through the Asia route after Valve made a special exception to the VRS rankings, which Valve uses to rank teams.
The report first appeared on the Russian Telegram channel “База Киберспорта” (Esports Base). As per the claim, the rule applies to any team logo, sticker or name that includes or directly points to a gambling, casino or bookmaker brand, unless that brand holds a valid gambling licence in Singapore. The reason is that Singapore has strict local rules on gambling advertising and branding.
As host of the upcoming CS2 Major, Singapore requires organiser PGL to enforce local laws throughout the tournament, including the playoff stages at the Singapore Indoor Stadium. Consequently, PGL must apply host-nation advertising standards that go beyond Valve’s standard restrictions on skin-gambling and case-opening sponsors.
Teams must also meet other deadlines. Names and logos reportedly need to be confirmed around November 6-7 (depending on the time zone), and tournament item submissions are due by November 9. This information is currently unconfirmed and subject to official verification by PGL or Valve.
Stickers are specially important in this matter here because they are a substantial source of revenue at Majors, with fans buying them to support their favourite teams and players. A new name or logo can make a team harder to recognise and search for, which could hurt sales.
The players and rosters themselves are not affected, as the change only concerns branding for this event.
Rebrands like this are not new. Imperial had its sticker changed for the StarLadder Major Budapest 2025 for resembling the logo of its sponsor Gamdom, and similar restrictions have appeared whenever events are held in places with tight gambling rules. At Dota 2’s The International 2026 in Shanghai, related teams have already adapted: BetBoom played as BoomBoys, PARIVISION as Team Vision, and 1win as Iron Wing.
The Major runs from November 24 to December 13, 2026, with a $1.25 million prize pool and 32 teams qualified through the VRS.
