DPC EEU Spring Tour postponed indefinitely

As EPICENTER announced, Valve’s DPC EEU Spring Tour has been postponed indefinitely. The reasons are officially unknown, but it is believed to be related to the ongoing war between Ukraine and Russia.

EEU DPC postponed until further notice

On Feb. 28, promoter EPICENTER announced that Valve’s DPC EEU Spring Tour has been postponed indefinitely. With this news, the Upper and Lower Divisions of the EEU DPC season are cancelled for now, along with the opportunity for teams from those divisions to earn DPC points. This means that Natus Vincere, AS Monaco Gambit, V-Gaming, Virtus.pro, Mind Games, HellRaisers, Team Empire, Hydra, Gambit Esports, Team Spirit, PuckChamp, Nemiga Gaming and two teams yet to be determined will be without an official league next season.

“We have been informed by Valve that the DPC Eastern European Spring Tour will be postponed indefinitely,” EPICENTER said. “We will get back to you soon with details on the new start dates for the open qualifiers and the main regional tournament.” Although Valve has not given an official reason for the cancellation, many fans and players assume that there is only one valid reason at the moment: the political situation between Russia vs. Ukraine and the associated security risks for players in the region.

Several players from various regions affected

Players from Russia, Ukraine, but also, Belarus, Moldova, Georgia, Kyrgyzstan, Uzbekistan and Kazakhstan participated in the EEU DPC region. Ukrainian and Russian players are represented in each team of the upper league, and many of play in the same team. Hundreds of players from across the region have already been affected by the conflict in Ukraine, and some are even in grave danger.

Of the 40 players representing the eight Dota 2 teams in Division I of the EEU at the Spring Tour, 23 players are Russian, 10 players are Ukrainian, and many of the other players are from neighboring countries of Ukraine that have been directly affected by the ongoing invasion.

Ukrainian Dota pro player Danil “Dendi” Ishutin of Team B8 shared in a recent post on Twitter how badly the conflict between the two countries has affected him personally. He assured his fans that he was fine, but said that the current situation in Ukraine was a nightmare.

But for many players living in Ukraine, Dota 2 is now irrelevant for now anyway, given the much bigger, life-threatening issues. The postponement of the DPC EEU simply has to be accepted by necessity. At the moment, they don’t know how long the DPC will be postponed: “We’ll get back to you soon with details on the new start dates for the open qualifiers and the main regional tournament.” Ultimately, EEU Dota 2 will return as soon as it is possible.