In what could be the start of an effort to stabilize the competitive Dota 2 ecosystem, tourney organizer Blast will enter the scene by adding new events to its lineup. Dota 2, published by Valve, has had its scene traditionally rely on a just a few large-scale tournaments each year to sustain interest and competition.
Blast will offer tournaments at the end of 2024 and into 2025, along with the Blast Slam, which is a Dota 2 circuit that will host five events.
This is the second large move for Blast this year after making deals to operate both the Fortnite Championship Series and Rocket League Championship Series (both of those circuits are under Epic Games). “As we’ve grown as a business, you’ve seen Blast expand into further titles, and Dota has always been on our wish list,” said Andrew Haworth, Blast's VP/ecosystems for Valve and Riot. “With the recent changes to the Dota ecosystem, we feel it’s the perfect opportunity to come in and provide the community with the next level of Dota tournaments.”
Until recently, almost all Dota 2 prize money came from a single tournament -- The International. Take 2021, when $40 million of the available $47 million in prize money around pro Dota 2 came from The International. Similarly, of the $47 million paid out in 2019, $34 million was done so at the season-ending tourney. That led to multiple instances of teams folding after not winning any money at The International.
Organizations couldn't make significant money over the course of a year, and the same top teams kept winning year after year, which stifled competition and growth. Valve even shuttered its Dota Pro Circuit (DPC) last year, believing that the competition had become too big and too exclusive.
Valve then made the call to let more third-party operators organize tournaments to spread out competition over a calendar year. “It is great to have more esports, and competition is healthy for improving the product offering for everyone involved,” said Peter Dager, who won The International in 2015 with Evil Geniuses. “With the dissolution of the DPC, it's now possible for third parties to build long-term programs without the risk of being shunned from the official circuit by an outside party, which justifies investment.”
This won't be Blast's first rodeo with Valve, as it has done work around Counter-Strike. Blast also works with Riot Games and Ubisoft on events for some of their games. “We want to apply many of our learnings from operating other games," noted Haworth. "We will look into how we can elevate the in-game viewing experience."
