Valve, the organiser of the annusal esports event of the game Dota 2 has announced the delay of The International 10. The International which was supposed to become the biggest esports tournament in history had to be delayed because of the ongoing COVID-19 Pandemic. The main event was supposed to take place in Stockholm, Sweden from 18th to 23rd August in the Ericsson Globe Arena. Valve pushed the occurrence of the event to an unknown date in the future. They said it is very unlikely that the event will occur before 2021.
“After extensive consideration of the global health emergency stemming from COVID-19, we have made the difficult choice to delay The International,” said a statement released by Valve. “We have been exploring various date possibilities, but it is likely that the event will need to happen in 2021. Given the highly volatile landscape for local gathering restrictions, virus trajectory, and global travel policies, we don’t expect to have enough confidence to communicate firm dates in the near future. In the meantime, we are working on restructuring the DPC season for the fall, and will be providing more information as soon as we have it.”
What happens to The International 10 Battle Pass?
The question of the release of the Battle Pass arises too with all the complications. The Battle Pass is a big money raiser for Valve. Last year itself the Battle Pass generated $33 Million. Out of which 25% goes to the Prize Pool of The International. Valve said in a statement, “The 10th International prize pool will be funded by 25% of sales of the next Battle Pass, which we are planning to release soon instead of closer to the event itself. However, with our team working from home and things taking longer to complete, the release date of the Battle Pass will be at least a couple of weeks later than usual.”
