After the cancelation of the ESL One Major Los Angeles, many expected that other Dota 2 esports events are soon to follow. Yesterday, Valve announced that the next Minor and Major events in line are also out of the question.
A wave of cancellations
At this point, it would actually be surprising if an offline event didn’t get canceled. The ESL One Los Angeles Dota 2 Major got canceled last week after U.S. President Donald Trump imposed a travel ban. That made it nigh-impossible for players from certain countries to attend the event. Valve and ESL mentioned that they would work together in order to reschedule the tournament if possible. Anyone who bought a ticket was also to be refunded.
Update on #ESLOne Los Angeles: pic.twitter.com/Nilxseh0Zq
— ESL Dota2 (@ESLDota2) March 12, 2020
Fast forward a week later, and things got even more complicated for the Dota Pro Circuit. Valve’s latest decision is no doubt the right one for everyone’s safety.
Given the high fluidity of the state of both the pandemic and geopolitical landscape, we will keep following the situation and decide how to approach the final major and minor of the season as the weeks progress.
— DOTA 2 (@DOTA2) March 15, 2020
The DotaPit Minor was supposed to take place between April 23 and April 26 in Split, Croatia. The event was announced last week and a couple of days later, it’s already a thing of the past. The EPICENTER Major was long-awaited by CIS fans and players alike as it’s the one where they can play on home turf. The Major was scheduled for May 2-10 but now the fate of both events remains unknown. Keep in mind that we’re not talking about postponing the events but outright canceling them.
More questions than answers
Dota 2 has always had its fair share of issues when it came to international tournaments, whether it’d be drama, visa issues or the Chinese government stepping in. However, the coronavirus plays on a whole new level as it managed to single-handedly cancel half the Dota 2 season, numerous gaming events and social gatherings of all kinds. This is truly an unprecedented case for the game, as it has never before canceled so it’d be interesting to see how the situation will unfold.
Due to the global threat that the coronavirus presents, Valve’s decision comes as no surprise. There are still a couple of questions remaining, though. Is the ESL One Major postponed or canceled? There hasn’t been an update from either Valve or ESL. With the fourth Minor and Major out of the picture, only two other events remain before The International. Whether the fifth Minor and Major will be canceled as well remains to be seen as it’ll all be very dependent on the containment of the virus.
Perhaps the easiest solution to have both people remaining healthy and getting an actual tournament is to move the whole thing online. Maybe it won’t be as exciting as a live event in an arena with a huge audience, but health and safety should always come first. Many other companies who were supposed to attend E3 this year (which was also canceled) have announced they’ll be doing their own digital events.
Do you think Valve should follow their example?
