ptkovsky
The International 10, the biggest championship in Dota 2 and one of the largest esports events in the whole world, will be held without audience attendance.
The American video game developer and the partial organizer of the event, Valve Corporation, announced that the tough decision had to be made due to the tense situation with the rising COVID-19 incidence and the ongoing limitations in Romania.
The official US developer’s announcement was published in the MOBA’s blog, where it is said that the ticket sales are canceled and all previous purchases were refunded.
The company, based in Bellevue, Washington, states that it is unable to take control of the situation and grant further safety of the participating players, teams, personnel, and viewers of the event.
From Sweden to Romania
The famous International series esports competition was already postponed multiple times during the last months. The Dota 2 championship was said to take place in Sweden, but due to the COVID-19 issues in the Northern European country, it was postponed and the location of the event was changed to Romania.
The rising number of the coronavirus cases in the Southeastern European country recently broke its previous peak of new everyday cases, which was set back in the period of November 2020 with almost 10,000 daily records.
According to the Worldometer’s COVID-19 live statistical data monitoring tool, the current number of recorded cases in Romania appears to be nearing the 1,300,000 mark, with almost 40,000 deaths. About 12,600 of the cases were recorded throughout the period of only one day, on October 2.
Furthermore, these numbers are rising fast, especially since the period in the middle of September. Many of the COVID-19 cases were recorded in the city of Bucharest, where the Dota 2 matches of the TI10 tournament are set to take place.
There are also numerous reports of massive public protests occurring in Romania, due to the the imposed coronavirus restrictions by the governmental authorities in the European country.
Chinese teams
It was reported earlier, that multiple Chinese TI players were under coronavirus threat, including members of the Chinese Dota 2 esports organizations, such as Team Aster and Invictus Gaming. Multiple Chinese players and staff were tested COVID-19 positive at the TI10.
The recent nucleic acid amplification tests of the other Chinese esports organizations’ members, such as PSG.LGD, Vici Gaming, and Elephant, were fine.
International
The $40,000,000 prize pool Dota 2 world championship is a massive offline esports event, which is set to begin on October 7.
During the show, the best Dota 2 teams in the world will compete at the Arena Nationala venue, which is located in Bucharest, Romania. One of the biggest stadiums in the country previously hosted other major sports events, including some of the UEFA Euro 2020 matches and the UEFA Europa League final game in 2012.
There is a reasoned opinion that such an enormous prize pool of Valve’s main esports event of the year destroys the entire ecosystem of competitive Dota 2, and that the listed DPC system’s major flaws need to be fixed soon.