Valve has announced the TI15 invites: Here’s why some team names are very different

Michael Hassall Published 26/05/2026

It’s around three months until The International 2026, TI15, and Valve has just unveiled the direct invites and qualifier invites to the event, but eagle-eyed fans will notice some strange names in the team lists.

Valve unveiled the invites in the small hours of the morning on May 26 (late evening on May 25 for their HQ in Bellevue, Washington), detailing the seven direct invites, regional qualifier invites, and some bizarre new names for some of the teams – likely to adhere to both Valve guidelines on sponsors and China’s strict legislation on gambling. Here’s everything you need to know.

Dota 2 team names change for TI15 in anti-gambling sponsorship crackdown

TI15’s Direct Invite teams. Image Credit: Valve

TI15 Direct Invites

Aurora Gaming
BoomBoys (BetBoom Team)
Team Falcons
Team Liquid
Tundra Esports
Xtreme Gaming
Team Yandex

There’s some notable absences here, such as Team Vision (PARIVISION) and Team Spirit, meaning Valve likely didn’t take into account the most recent tournaments, DreamLeague Season 29, when deciding invites.

TI15 Regional Qualifiers

Beyond just the direct invites, Valve also unveiled the regional qualifier invites, and some changes to the format. The biggest one will be the merging of Eastern Europe and Western Europe’s qualifiers into a single ‘Europe’ qualifier.

There’s also some controversy in the number of slots. South America, North America, and Southeast Asia will have just a single slot. In SA, that means teams like the newly announced LGD Gaming (formerly Heroic) and PlayTime (Formerly paiN Gaming) will only send one team to Shanghai.

For SEA it means a difficult battle between the likes of OG, REKONIX, GLYPH, and hopefuls like Execration, and Team Nemesis. NA is perhaps the most depleted region, with just a single direct invite to qualifiers for Gamer Legion.

The most important changes to remember:

Three spots for China (1 direct invite, 2 from qualifiers)
One spot each for South America, Southeast Asia, and North America
Eastern and Western Europe merged into single regional qualifier, 10 total slots (6 from invites, 4 from qualifiers)

Qualifier details. Image credit: Wykrhm Reddy on Twitter/X

No betting sponsors for TI15

Beyond the invites and the huge 10 slots for Europe, the strange names for some of the teams is perhaps the most notable thing about this announcement. In case you missed it, BetBoom Team have become BoomBoys, PARIVISION have become Team Vision, and 1win have become “enjoy.”

Since 2024, Valve has explicitly banned gambling sponsorships from explicitly being within The International, although many teams have got around this with small name changes (BBTeam, PVISION). Then, early in May, Valve outlined it’s Team Registration rules for TI15, explicitly stating the following:

“Team Name and Digital Assets. Without limiting the foregoing, your Team must not use, display, or submit any digital assets, including but not limited to Team name, Team banner, and/or Team logo, that (1) contain any reference to a sponsor, directly or indirectly, whose goods, services, or activities are illegal to display or use in any jurisdiction or territory where TI will be broadcast, or (2) violate any Valve intellectual property, or advertise or are associated with case opening sites or skin trading sites.”

This isn’t just a Valve move though: China, the host country of TI15, has strict gambling laws and regulations. All forms of gambling, including casinos and online gambling, are illegal in China, with only state-operated lotteries, and the autonomous region of Macau, being immune to these laws. Even with the latter example, access is restricted to visit Macau just a few times a year for Chinese residents.

Advertising and promoting gambling is equally illegal, and can carry harsh sentences.

With such strict regulations on gambling, Valve is clearly not playing around when it comes to TI15 in Shanghai, and is making sure they, and any of the teams for that matter, fall foul of the law.

Featured Image Credit: Valve

Michael Hassall

About Michael Hassall

Michael is a eight-year veteran of the games writing space, but has being playing them for as long as he can remember. With bylines across the internet, he’s used his expertise to cover esports, prediction markets, mainstream gaming, streamers, and more besides.

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