Valve Ends Dota 2 Pro Circuit

There were multiple reports about the current Dota 2 Pro Circuit getting reshaped. These rumours turned out to undersell the reality, as Valve recently announced they will be ending the Dota Pro Circuit in their latest blog post.

Reflecting on The Dota Pro Circuit

Valve first introduced The Dota Pro Circuit in 2017 to answer the most-asked question at the time,“ How Do You Earn A Ticket To The Internationals?”. At the time, DPC was a tremendous success. Not only did it answer the questions, but it also cleared the uncertainty of which teams would qualify for TI.

At its peak, DPC created some of the most cherished memories for fans and players. However, as The Dota Pro Circuit evolved in recent years, there were many issues Valve had to face in organising the tournaments.

The DPC consisted of three tours- Winter, Spring and Summer Tours. After each of these tours, there is a Major before the next Tour. Majors gave tremendous DPC points and a prize money of 500,000 USD. The concept was successful, but Valve gave the privilege of hosting Majors to third-party tournament organisers.

Despite the teams trying their best, Majors quickly became a negative experience for many fans. In the 2022-2023 DPC Season, DPC Majors were disastrous, and fans were also quick to share their negative experience on Reddit.

The Issues Of DPC Majors

In all 2022-2023 DPC Majors, there were several issues. In the Lima Major, due to various technical issues, there were matches played after midnight after every fan had left. Fans questioned the production values of the Major as the season progresses, as there were some similar issues at the Berlin Major and Bali Major as well. Despite the technical issues, the teams gave nail-biting matches.

The challenge for the Crown

At the midpoint of the DPC, ESL One announced its own Pro Dota 2 Circuit in supplement to Valve’s DPC. However, as ESL had better production, fans flocked to tournaments hosted by ESL, such as DreamLeague Season 19, Season 20 and The Riyadh Masters 2023.

Moreover, The Riyadh Masters 2023 had nearly the equal amount of last year’s TI prize pool. The bigger prize pools and better production, combined with the fans’ passion for the game, make ESL tournaments attract more viewers than Valve’s official Dota 2 Pro Circuit.

Valve’s Reflection

In Valve’s blog post, the organization admitted DPC was not as great as it used to be. Despite the organisation’s great intentions, due to the carelessness of the organisers, the tournaments were not what they used to be. Moreover, due to Valve, the event organisers are less involved in the events, making the competitive Dota scene less exciting and less fun.

Reflecting on the early days of competitive Dota 2 and nowadays, Valve ultimately decided to end DPC. Valve assured fans there will still be The International and a better way for teams to qualify for the tournament next year. Many fans are content with this decision from Valve. Moreover, they hope Valve would collaborate again with ESL One to bring the glory days of competitive Dota 2.

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Image Source: Valve