“Dota 2” quickly grew into one of the biggest games in history, and it drew a significant number of professional players. Valve quickly took things in their own hands and set up an official tournament, which is about to have its sixth edition. As can be expected, the game has seen various improvements recently, including the addition of a VR mode for spectators, all in anticipation of the big event. At the same time, some players are seemingly worried about the state of Valve’s communication with their community.
The International is going to be big by many measures – including its prize pool. With more than $18 million and climbing, Valve have broken the record for the biggest prize pool in esports history – a record which was actually previously set by them, again with “Dota 2”. The popularity of the game alone was sure to draw a huge crowd to the competition, but now when the stakes are higher than ever, we expect this to be a spectacular event that will be the main topic of fan discussions for a long time.
Not all of that money is coming from Valve themselves – the studio found a way to get their fans engaged with the tournament as well, allowing them to participate in raising the funds in return for in-game rewards. So far, the system has worked very well, and players have been quite eager to contribute to the prize pool. It’ll be interesting to see if they manage to break the $20 million barrier, but there isn’t much time left to go at this point.
Valve have been implementing various interesting features in the game to make the tournament even more exciting this time, including a special new VR spectator mode. This allows players to view the game from up close, spectating with a Virtual Reality headset. According to reports and initial impressions, the mode works very well and fits the tone of the game pretty much perfectly. “Dota 2” is a great game for a spectator sport, and it has a huge potential for something like that.
Plus, the VR mode can also add a lot of extra possibilities for the interaction between fans and players, or even just between fans themselves. Valve will surely continue their work on it if it proves successful, and only the tournament itself will show whether the idea actually has any merit in the long run.
Meanwhile, some fans have been worried about the state of communication between Valve and their fans, as the studio has been quiet on certain pressing issues related to the tournament. Some legal problems surrounding the travel of some teams were not resolved until a very late point, and Valve are yet to make a statement that pleases their community. Fans have gotten used to this style of silence from the company, but when it comes to the biggest tournament in the history of esports, this kind of attitude is really out of place.
We expect everything to get cleared up before the date of the tournament, but this is still a worrying trend from Valve if they continue to behave in the same way. The company has a very good reputation with their fans, but it can only carry them so far if they keep ignoring the issues that surround the event. Hopefully Gabe Newell or someone else will address the situation in an appropriate way soon enough.