The first big Dota 2 tournament of 2022, the Winter Major, has been canceled by Valve. The announcement comes as no surprise following the increasing number of Covid-19 cases worldwide, which has forced some countries to impose travel restrictions again.
Many players are disappointed with the decision, not because of the canceled tournament but how Valve handled the cancellation. This article will go over the decision around canceling the Major and what will happen next.
Upsetting News
Valve will change point distributions as well. The points that were going to be earned at the Winter Major will be transferred to the second and third Majors later in the year. This will ensure the balance of points between regional and cross-region remains the same.
The Dota 2 esports community is reportedly unhappy with the decision as the cancellation has created some issues for the participating teams. For example, some teams had to bear the financial consequences, while others expressed concern that the points would only be distributed later.
Many other event organizers have decided to cancel events at some point over the last couple of years. The specific problem with this last-minute cancellation is that the Dota 2 esports scene is absolutely huge and somewhat dependent on Valve’s financial support: This Major would have distributed around $500,000 between the competing teams.
The point of the Dota Pro Circuit is to provide the competitive scene with stability, and the league element of it is the qualifiers for a given Major.
However, the core is that Valve canceled this event at the last minute when professional organizations had been building up to it, did so without informing teams and players, and removed a considerable amount of money from the scene without questioning its decision.
What’s Next
There’s a widespread sense that Valve has screwed up here. Of course, it’s now being mixed in with more general criticisms of Dota 2. Some think the latest battle pass was a rip-off, others feel Valve doesn’t support the game and pro scene as it should, and there hasn’t been a significant update to the game for a while.
Valve understandably decided that an in-person event at this moment in the Covid-19 pandemic was a bad idea. Still, the pro scene’s grievances about how this has happened seem entirely reasonable, too, and given Valve’s resource and scale, somewhat unnecessary.
What will Valve do to make it right? Or better yet, what can they do?
Valve has provided an additional update to the teams/players in regards to the @DOTA2 Winter Major. pic.twitter.com/aXUIrLuORf
— Matthew Bailey (@Cyborgmatt) January 13, 2022
Valve has responded to the community backlash, acknowledging that it is the company’s fault for not providing a clear line of communication to the fans, players, and organizations.
“We should have done a better job of keeping you all in the loop about the risks of the event, and we also should have been more willing to take a different approach earlier to find a way to conclude the first season,” Valve said. “We apologize for this.”
Valve has also confirmed it is working on plans for a secondary LAN event to replace the Major and bring the season to a proper end.
No official details about the proposed event have been revealed, but Valve confirmed there would be constraints on how such an event could be run due to the travel restrictions and health concerns. So there likely won’t be any more news until Valve finalizes its new plans for the DPC. This will have a huge impact on esports betting.
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