Dota Pro Circuit is no more

After years of using the Dota Pro Circuit format for its professional Dota 2 scene, Valve has decided to drop it and go back to the old ways. It didn’t adjust it, it didn’t replace it with something specific, it simply canceled it. And nobody knows what will happen next.

The purpose of Dota Pro Circuit was to provide a clear format that would make it easy for teams to know what they need to do to qualify for the Majors and The International. It consisted of three Tours, each of which lasted for 6 months.

Division I was played first (three weeks of matches) and Division II followed it (another three weeks of matches). Then came a $500.000 Major, which offered teams qualification points for The International. The teams also got rewarded for doing well regionally.

But this format didn’t work well for everyone. In fact, players like Nigma’s Kuro “KuroKy” Takhasomi struggled severely to play in important DPC events simply because he wasn’t good enough to finish in the top four in Western Europe.

With the DPC structure abolished, what could possibly fill this huge void that was created by Valve?

The Dota Pro Circuit. https://t.co/IrxQP9zIxB #DPC #Dota2 pic.twitter.com/vOy92z5MKs

— Wykrhm Reddy (@wykrhm) September 14, 2023

Next steps

Valve’s announcement hinted at what might come next for the Dota 2 professional scene. The company complained about the lack of innovation on the part of tournament organizers but took complete responsibility for the situation it created.

With 24 weeks of the calendar year being occupied by Dota Pro Circuit leagues and Majors, there was hardly any room for companies like ESL and PGL to play a role. And even when they did, their events were regarded as merely an additional source of income for the players, because they didn’t offer qualification points for TI.

This lowered the hype level and the audience numbers significantly. But now we’re expecting to see both Valve as well as tournament organizers doing what they used to do before the DPC was created.

There used to be lots of $300.000, $500.000, and $1 million events all year round. And now that the organizers have had enough time to experiment with the possibilities, from qualifiers to format, everything can be planned in a very smart way.

If the Dota 2 community proves to be interested in watching professional LAN events the way it used to, the game will have a bright future, even without the DPC.

Header: Valve