Valve Addresses Concerns and Plans for the Dota 2 Competitive Scene Amidst COVID-19
COVID-19 has caused various problems for the esports community, particularly in the highly competitive Dota 2 scene. With teams shutting down due to uncertain major tournaments and a perceived lack of support from Valve during the pandemic, a spotlight has been placed on these issues in recent weeks.
In response to community backlash, Valve has released a statement outlining their approach to the competitive scene during the pandemic. The statement explains the reasoning behind their decision-making, provides an update on support for new tournaments, and discusses streaming rights for competitive matches.
Valve has been in constant communication with tournament organizers since postponing this year’s Dota Pro Circuit indefinitely. However, plans for alternative events fell through due to the evolving threat of COVID-19 and the challenge of cross-regional play without LAN events.
Valve stated that while cross-region competition and proximity to The International are not absolute requirements, they believed that postponing them would better serve the DPC and fans in the current circumstances.
The developers also mentioned considering a decay system for points and LAN events without fans. However, the spread of the virus and travel restrictions made it difficult to determine a timeframe. Feedback from third-party organizers also revealed concerns about lower broadcast quality and reluctance to operate DPC events in the fall.
Valve’s decision to indefinitely postpone both the DPC and International received negative feedback from fans due to a lack of communication about interim plans. To address this, Valve is working with at least four third-party organizers to create events in Europe and China, with more in the planning stages.
To expand coverage globally, Valve is reaching out to additional tournament organizers to offer help and financial support. This is a step toward making up for the six months of inactivity and the community’s significant crowdfunding of the TI10 prize pool.
Valve aims to restart the DPC in some form within the first few months of 2021. They hope that travel limitations and other challenges will be less restrictive by the time the first DPC league concludes, enabling Majors to return fully. TI10 is planned for Stockholm in August, with backup plans in place.
The statement also addresses DotaTV and streaming rights. While no major changes have been made, Valve intends to revise policies to benefit tournament organizers. Starting on September 15, TOs will have reasonable and non-monetary guidelines for community streamers who want to re-stream the DotaTV feed.
Valve’s aim is to provide certainty and confidence to community streamers while protecting the interests of tournament organizers. Streamers like Gorgc and SingSing can still provide their own commentary, but TOs can benefit from their participation even if viewer numbers do not reflect it.
Valve advises casters who want to stream a tournament to coordinate with organizers in advance regarding the requirements.
Valve will release further updates on the DPC, streaming rights, and other details of the Dota scene in the future. They have taken some steps to address the concerns raised by players, fans, and TOs.