The new gaming season is gaining steam, and it means that there appear more and more disputes about holding the anniversary of The International in DOTA2. The touchstone for all rumors must be the first LAN in Singapore which is planned to start on 25 March. If the teams are given the green light for transporting to Southeast Asia, The International’s question will be closed, and we will just wait for the announcement (confirmation) of the venue and exact dates.
Positive Factors for Holding the Tournament
The massive vaccination was kicked off. Almost all countries in Europe, CIS, and China have already launched the vaccination process for their citizens. We are not talking about real results yet, but there is a considerable development. Many European countries have already claimed that they are going to vaccinate their population till the end of the spring which increases the chances of holding TI in the summer.
DPC 2021 Season 1 was hosted according to plan. All regions have played local competitions online. There is a huge likelihood that nobody will organize the final stage online due to technical difficulties, so it is obvious that the teams treat a chance to make it to the Singapore Indoor Stadium seriously.
Absence of financial problems. Valve has not held any Dota events for a long time – to put it differently, they have not spent spare money. It means that apart from the huge prize pool for the participants, the company can afford to allocate means for holding The International considering all COVID-19 requirements.
Negative Factors for Holding the Tournament
Swedish nuance. It could sounds strange, even though The International in DOTA2 and the Major in CS:GO were initially planned to take place in Stockholm, but the bet on holding the event in the capital of Sweden can lose. Sweden has the mildest lockdown restrictions in Europe which led to escalation of the situation at the end of 2020 – the country recorded much more infection cases than in any other country in the EU. As a result, the government had to impose additional restrictions and now everything depends on whether the organizers of the two events will be able to agree with the local authorities or not.
Is Singapore an attempt to move to New Zealand? Some time ago there were rumors about Gabe Newell’s’ wish to relocate Valve’s event in New Zealand. Most experts swiftly started thinking about all difficulties in reaching this far-off country from almost any spot in the world.
On the flip side, Singapore is geographically close to an island country, and Valve are likely to make the right conclusions after the first LAN in 2021 on condition that it takes place. As a result, there may be a conflict of interests when teams and organizers cannot settle on the region for holding TI which will lead to another reschedule of the event.
In any case, we do not have to wait for a long time. If the Major in Singapore does not take place, holding of The International in the summer is becoming impossible due to the fact that absence of the rating with DPC points will make it quite hard for Valve to deal with invites to Stockholm objectively. Now we just must keep an eye on the regional competition and root for favorite teams.
