CSGO’s official Major rulebook has finally been publicized

William Davis Published 03/02/2022

The official rulebook for Counter-Strike: Global Offensive esports is now available to the public.

In the interest of transparency, Valve has decided to release an official and up-to-date version of the CSGO Major rulebook. This document lists all the official rules for Major events sponsored by Valve. While it does not apply to tournaments outside of the pinnacle of CSGO, aspiring tournament organizers and third-party runners can base their own rulesets off of it. In addition to including RMR points distribution details, the book also includes several famous rulings throughout CSGO history.

The foreword of the official CSGO rulebook states that the decision to publicize it was motivated by previous inconsistencies in tournament rulesets. It will also make the ruleset easier to access for assistant organizers and tournament staff. 

“By consolidating them into a single document, we hope to eliminate inconsistencies across Valve-sponsored events and allow tournament operators to prepare their staff well in advance of their events,” the rulebook explained.

The foreword also makes an important note that the document does not include every rule for every Major tournament. The exact ruleset must be determined by the tournament host, such as PGL or ESL. All of the rules outlined by Valve must be included. 

Famous CSGO rulings included in Major rulebook

The Major rulebook also includes several famous rulings throughout CSGO history. This includes the recent change where coaches are not allowed to communicate with players during the game.

“Coaches are not to communicate with (i.e., be seen, heard, or felt by) the players by any means at any time with the exception of warmup, half-time, and tactical timeouts,” the rulebook read.

This ruling was recently invoked towards Astralis coach Danny “zonic” Sørensen for cheering his players during PGL Major Stockholm. 

The document also outlines the exact proceedings for Regional Major Rankings points. In the last season, the system drew criticism for factoring in regional strength despite the existence of international competition. This resulted in wacky seeding including calling Ninjas in Pyjamas the best team in the world over Natus Vincere.

Now that info is publicly available, fans should be less surprised by future oddities.

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