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Valve & DOTA 2 further delay new date reveals for The International 10

Due to ongoing complications with the COVID-19 pandemic, Valve and DOTA 2 have reaffirmed that they are still no closer to sharing a new date for The International 10.

TJ Denzer

August 25, 2020 12:07 PM

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DOTA 2’s The International competition is maybe the most large scale esport tournament in the world. Very little else even comes close to the magnitude of the esports series Valve puts on every year in terms of viewership, prize money, and other factors. Unfortunately, even something so massive as The International 10 wasn’t stalwart enough to avoid being affected by the COVID-19 pandemic. Dates for TI10 were delayed earlier this year with the competition looking like it might be pushed back into 2021, but Valve recently confirmed once more that it is no closer to revealing a new date.

Valve made this unfortunate announcement on the DOTA 2 Twitter on August 25, 2020. According to the organizers of The International 10, the “unpredictability” worldwide still makes even tentative dates for TI10 impossible to confirm. This is after The International 10 was already delayed pretty much indefinitely due to COVD-19 back in April earlier this year. While Valve and DOTA 2 appreciate the enthusiasm of the fans and claim they’ll announce new dates as soon as they can, it seems pretty clear we’re no closer to a new date.

In following how the pandemic has been developing globally, the recent increase in the unpredictability of COVID-19 means we can’t yet commit to new dates for TI10 and the DPC. We share your eagerness in returning to these events, and will announce updates as soon as we can.

— DOTA 2 (@DOTA2) August 25, 2020

It should come as little surprise why Valve is choosing to update fans on the lack of an update today. Normally, DOTA 2 The International takes place in August around this time of month. In fact, the world was celebrating Omega Gamers as the back-to-back champions of DOTA 2 The International 2019 on this very day in 2019. It’s unfortunate to say the least that the chaos surrounding the coronavirus pandemic means we can’t even watch a digital version of DOTA 2 The International competition, considering groups like Riot have found ways to pivot to digital competition with the LCS and LEC.

That said, Valve and DOTA 2 are no doubt working on the situation. In the meantime, it’s just more opportunity to clear out milestones on the TI10 Battle Pass if you’re still working on it. Stay tuned as we await further updates on The International 10 dates.

TJ Denzer

Senior News Editor

TJ Denzer is a player and writer with a passion for games that has dominated a lifetime. He found his way to the Shacknews roster in late 2019 and has worked his way to Senior News Editor since. Between news coverage, he also aides notably in livestream projects like the indie game-focused Indie-licious, the Shacknews Stimulus Games, and the Shacknews Dump. You can reach him at tj.denzer@shacknews.com and also find him on Twitter @JohnnyChugs.