Game developer Valve has cancelled its first Dota 2 Major of 2022, an event that was expected to conclude Dota Pro Circuit’s Winter Tour.
As a result of the cancellation, Valve has issued some changes to the Dota Pro Circuit 2021 – 22 season. DPC points usually garnered at the event will now be distributed to the second and third Major of the season. Moreover, the Winter Tour will officially conclude once all regional league tournaments have ended.
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Valve cited COVID-19 concerns as the main reason for the cancellation, explaining in a release that new, fast-spreading variants of the virus make hosting a LAN tournament impossible at this time. Later Majors are still planned, however, no details were shared by Valve.
Traditionally, the first Major of the year for Dota 2 comes early in the year, and marks the conclusion of the winter season of the DPC competitive calendar. Competing teams will now look towards spring for the first Major of the 2021/22 season. Traditionally, this has been played in March.
Valve explained in a release: “As the Winter Tour of the Dota Pro Circuit 2021-2022 season draws to a close, we’ve made the difficult decision to cancel the first Major. While hopes were high that we could host an international LAN event, the discovery and spread of new strains of COVID-19 and the resulting increase of travel restrictions has made it unfeasible for all qualified teams to gather for a LAN tournament.”
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Dota 2 and its competitive ecosystem have been hit hard by the pandemic. Three Major championships in 2020 were cancelled, and the two Majors that did take place in 2021 had its prize pools cut in half. The International, Dota 2’s biggest event of the season, did take place last year, however, it was played without an audience.
Valve added in a release that the company will continue to evaluate the situation regarding international travel for its upcoming Major tournaments.
Esports Insider says: Dota 2 is having a hard time tournament-wise. With 2021 not delivering the number of tournaments people have come to expect from Dota 2, it seems that the pandemic will continue to affect the Dota 2’s ecosystem in 2022. Hopefully, the next Major, which is set to take place in spring, will go ahead as planned.
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