Recently, Valve took to the airwaves and social circles to confirm shocking news – the Dota Pro Circuit is being shut down after six years of operation. It was never a perfect league and it drew complaints from many professional players over the years, but it’s quite a hit to the Dota esports ecosystem, and it has left fans wondering what’s happening with The International. This year’s tournament – which runs from the 12th to the 29th of October – is secure, but what about future events?
In a well-detailed blog post, Valve explained in full why this decision has been made. It’s all about making the competitive ecosystem of Dota 2 much healthier and more creative overall. In this breakdown, Valve spoke quite harshly about the Dota Pro Circuit, stressing quite clearly why it was, for a while, a thorn in the side of the Dota 2 esports scene.
Bid Farewell to the Dota Pro Circuit
Image Credit: Valve
Going forward, things will change around The International, which is arguably the biggest esports tournament in the world. It’s certainly the most valuable, and at one point, it boasted the largest prize pool ever seen in esports. It’s expected that – in the absence of the Dota Pro Circuit (DPC) – Valve will pivot back to an invitational system for The International. It’s tried and tested, and what’s more, there’s a precedent there – it actually works.
Valve has already confirmed that there will be a tournament in 2024, but the qualification path for that event is yet to be clarified.
In the blog post that broke the news, Valve explained that the Dota Pro Circuit was established to show players quite clearly how they could earn qualification to The International. It was a ‘demystification’ effort that was ultimately bogged down by too many rules, regulations, and blockers, and in the words of Valve, it ‘has a stranglehold on the event calendar for the year and what it’s filled with.’
There was a throwback paragraph loaded with nostalgia, calling back to the days gone by that were studded with creativity, participation, and excitement. In Valve’s opinion, it’s well and indeed time to go back to those days.
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So, What’s Next?
Here’s the final paragraph that was outlined by Valve in the Dota 2 blog post:
‘Competitive Dota predates the DPC by many years and will continue long after. The International will continue as well — we’re already working on The International 2024, and next year we’ll be talking more about how invitations to that event will work. But for now, we’re going to return our focus to this year’s event — which, unbelievably, is only four short weeks away.’
Moving away from the ‘sterile, near-monoculture of today’ that the DPC has created, Valve is looking forward to the future. We can’t say for sure what comes next for the Dota 2 esports scene, but it should be impactful enough that it changes the face of the ecosystem in the coming months.
Before you go, check out the rest of our Dota esports news
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