- Valve cancels the Dota Pro Circuit’s Winter Tour over health concerns
- Fans and pros alike criticize the company for its apparent lack of transparency and communication
- Valve issues a small update and apology
Valve recently canceled the first Dota 2 Major of 2022. It was supposed to conclude the Dota Pro Circuit’s Winter Tour, and after facing backlash from the community, the company provided an update on the situation.
Valve Updates the Community after the Dota Pro Circuit’s Winter Tour Cancelation
On January 11, Valve canceled the 2022 Dota Pro Circuit Winter Tour Major, the reason being concerns and travel restrictions regarding Covid-19, according to Reuters. “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,” Valve announced in an official statement.
While this is not the first tournament to be canceled in the first days of 2022 because of Covid-19 (ALGS LAN was recently canceled due to the same concerns), there also seems to be some behind-the-scenes problems. They regard tournament organizers and their willingness to host the event in the first place, considering the rising number of Omicron cases worldwide.
This update comes as a result of the massive backlash Valve received from the Dota community, regarding the lack of transparency. Valve apologized with a Twitter post, saying: “We should have done a better job of keeping you all in the loop about the risks of the event, and we also should have been more willing to take a different approach earlier to find a way to conclude the first season.”
Valve Receives a Ton of Criticism
The Winter Tour Major would have had a prize pool of half a million dollars and should have brought together the top teams from the six regions featured in the DPC. There was no announcement on any of the official Dota social media pages and communication between Valve and the organizations and teams was lacking. Pro players, content creators, and fans alike have expressed concerns over the sudden decision. It seems their frustration lies mostly in the lack of communication between Valve and fans.
Evil Geniuses Dota manager Peter Anders wrote a TwitLonger, saying Valve had a direct meeting with all of the teams present at The International 10 and asked them to direct any complaints at the company, instead of going public with them. It seems, however, that communication is difficult, as Anders gives the story of PuckChamp manager. The PuckChamp hold the second-place ranking in Eastern Europe’s regional league and their manager has been trying to contact Valve about information for weeks. Because some of the team’s members are from currently politically volatile Kazakhstan, this might have caused travel complications. Anders says the manager did not receive a response before the cancelation of the Major.
There’s been criticism from pro players as well. Maurice “KheZu” Gutmann from the Quincy Crew said that Valve thinks professionals don’t add any value to Dota 2 as a whole. “That the reason people watch pro Dota is only because of their game & nothing else,” claims KheZu.
Many players shared KheZu’s sentiment. Some pros even questioned the viability of working in the Dota 2 scene should something like this continue. Others find it harder to justify qualifying for tournaments that don’t take place.
After apologizing, Valve confirmed it has plans to work on a secondary LAN event to replace the Major, bringing the season to a proper end. However, there are still no official details about the event. Valve also confirmed that there will be certain rules on how the event will be run, depending on travel restrictions and health concerns.
