TI11 Battle Pass launch gets huge delay as Valve changes plan

A major change is coming to The International Battle Pass for TI11, and that’s going to see the battle pass get a significant delay.

The International Battle Pass has traditionally been a summer event, dropping in May and then running through The International in August. In theory, it’s meant to wrap immediately after the conclusion of the event but server outages and various other controversies usually see it last for a week or two after.

That’s set to change in 2022. The TI11 Battle Pass will get pushed back further into the year in order to run after the event. Valve revealed the news as part of the Dota 2 Battle Report Update.

“To capture this excitement from current and returning players, we’re structuring the battle pass a little differently this year. We want to make the time right after The International concludes the best time to play Dota. To do this, we’re going to adjust the timing of the battle pass release to be later in the year than in previous years, that way the battle pass will run both throughout the event and for a significant amount of time afterwards,” Valve said in a statement on the official Dota 2 blog.

When is the TI11 Battle Pass coming out after delay?

The TI11 Battle Pass likely isn’t coming out until late August, or possibly even later.

Valve gave no definite timeframe for when the TI11 Battle Pass will come out, but there is some precedent that gives clues. The International Battle Pass usually runs for three to four months and The International 2022 will have a new format that sees the event run to October 30. 

One can assume that Valve plans to have the battle pass run for a month or more after the event’s conclusion. That would likely mean the TI11 Battle Pass would come out in late August and run until late November.

One thing Valve didn’t discuss is how this would impact The International’s prize pool. The battle pass has long been tailor-made to ensure an enormous prize pool for Dota 2’s top event. That’s no longer the case.

One possibility is that the actual prize pool for The International won’t be known until well after the event’s end. Another is that The International will receive 25% of what comes in ahead of the event, with anything after going into the Dota Pro Circuit season. There’s also the possibility that Valve will simply pocket 100% of anything that comes in after The International.