The COVID-19 pandemic is probably the biggest wet blanket the world has witnessed and experienced in the 21st century.
It smothers everything— from normalcy, travelling, competitions, connections or hell, to even breathing normally.
Even for the Esports community, they are no less affected, even if the competition is technically held virtually.
The Worlds’ Tournaments where thousands upon thousands gather at a single stadium to watch their favourite teams duke it out live on stage is no different from regular sporting events or the Olympics.
Then COVID-19 came in like a wrecking ball and told all the teams—who are already gaming recluses—that nope, you’re staying put in your own domestic lands and houses for the international competition, thus depriving them of the only reason they should get a little sunlight and some travelling done per year.
Just kidding, gamers do get out of their comfortable gamer chairs.
For food, at the very least.
Dota 2’s Annual Tournament Hosted in Singapore
With borders opening up and vaccinated travelling resuming, the international competitions can finally be hosted in physical arenas again.
This year, Dota 2’s annual tournament, The International, will be taking place in Singapore.
A first for Dota 2, since the previous tournaments were held in the United States, Canada, China, Germany, and Romania.
Singapore is the first Southeast Asian country to receive the honour of hosting the global Esports competition for this particular game franchise.
It will be held in Suntec Arena in October, though the specific day hasn’t been announced yet.
The Tournament Details
Winning the tournament comes with extremely generous rewards.
Last year’s team claimed the $40 million prize pool, which was crowdfunded by in-game purchases made by the Dota 2 community.
Given that the player base for Dota 2 hasn’t shrank much, this year’s winning pool should be equal, if not more.
It’s unknown what the actual cash prize is this year, but we probably won’t have to wait long to find out.
The stage has been set. The cast and trophy are in place.
Now, it’s just waiting for the tournament to arrive.
Singaporeans can finally save on the travelling expenses and focus on getting their hands on the tournament tickets instead!
Admittedly, Valve, the owner of Dota 2, hit a couple of snags as it was trying to secure a location for The International back in 2020.
At first, the 2020 event was meant to take place in Stockholm, Sweden, but issues with the Swedish authorities made the plans go out in smoke.
The organisers tried for Bucharest, Romania, but the uptick in COVID-19 cases meant that the live tournament was carried out without a live audience.
Although Singapore has relaxed its Safety Management Measures, there are still regulations in place for extremely large gatherings, and the estimated spectatorship in this tournament definitely counts as an instance where precautions are necessary.
When The Verge reached out to Valve for a comment, Valve didn’t respond whether they were going to take any COVID-19 precautions immediately.
Featured Image: Twitter (@DOTA2)