The International 10 is going to be one of the biggest events in esports history, but nobody knows when it’s going to happen.
After an extended silence, Valve gave an update on the status of TI10 and the return of the Dota Pro Circuit. Unfortunately, the update is that there is no immediate update. The news was revealed on Twitter:
In following how the pandemic has been developing globally, the recent increase in the unpredictability of COVID-19 means we can’t yet commit to new dates for TI10 and the DPC. We share your eagerness in returning to these events, and will announce updates as soon as we can.
— DOTA 2 (@DOTA2) August 25, 2020
Due to the ongoing global health situation, Valve has stated that there are no plans in place regarding TI10 or the future of the Dota Pro Circuit. That’s undoubtedly rough news for the Dota 2 pro scene, which has been left in an unfortunate limbo for months now.
TI10, Dota Pro Circuit indefinitely delayed, future unknown
In March, Valve put a pause on the 2019-2020 Dota Pro Circuit season by indefinitely postponing the ESL One Los Angeles Major. This was followed by the OGA Dota PIT Minor 2020 and EPICENTER Major 2020 being cancelled. The Dota Pro Circuit was then scrapped entirely with the cancellation of the ONE Esports Singapore Major 2020.
During that time, Valve also postponed The International 2020 and suggested it would be revisited at some point in 2021.
The lack of a plan when it comes to TI10 isn’t surprising as the situation was deliberately kept fluid in order to allow Valve to adjust based on how the global health situation progressed. The indefinite postponement to the return of the Dota Pro Circuit, however, comes as more of a shock.
The 2020-2021 Dota Pro Circuit season was meant to kick off this fall with a transition from live majors to online regional leagues. When Valve made the initial announcement that TI10 was postponed, it indicated that plans were still on for the new regional leagues to be set up on schedule.
Omega League was seemingly meant to be the last notable event before the Dota Pro Circuit went into effect and tournament organizers moved out of the way in order to accommodate this, with only a handful of small local leagues currently penned in on the pro calendar.
This not only inconveniences pro players who were preparing for high-stakes Dota 2 to return, it also leaves many pro players without an opportunity to earn money from the game. Odds are that some events will pop up to fill the gap, but teams and tournament organizers alike may be left scrambling to figure out what to do while the DPC delay continues.
Business in Dota 2 was already drying up, and hopes of relief coming in the near future are dwindling.
