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Dota 2’s The International Indefinitely Delayed

It’s official! The news that everybody was expecting, but secretly hoping that it wouldn’t happen, has been published.

Amidst the Coronavirus pandemic, Valve has indefinitely delayed the biggest Dota 2 tournament in the world – The International.

The event was set to happen in August at the Ericsson Globe arena in Stockholm, but it’s being pushed back until 2021.

We got this news on Tuesday, April 30th, and Valve says they can’t give a date because they don’t know how long the pandemic measures will stay.

The International has run annually since 2011 and is one of the most popular gaming events globally. Last year’s edition, which was held in Shanghai, had a prize pool of $30,000,000, which topped the record-breaking pool from the first annual Fortnite World Cup.

This announcement is bad news for esports enthusiasts, gamers and even gamblers who use this event to make some extra money. We won’t see any bets being placed on The International this year.

A Dota 2 betting site is one of the best ways to have fun and engage with the event itself. Luckily many other online tournaments are happening this year, and there won’t be a shortage of betting options. It’s just that The International gives us all a special feeling.

Valve confirmed that the prize pool of The International in 2021 would depend on  Battle Pass sales. It’s usually released a few months before the event itself, but we have confirmation that it will be released in a couple of weeks, just a little bit delayed than it was planned. The delay is because their team is working from home, and it’s taking a bit longer to complete.

Other Esports Casualties Because of COVID-19

There is a long line of esports events that had to delay, go to an online setting, or even cancel completely.

The Overwatch League kicked off earlier this year and had ambitions to host away, and home games all over the world have moved to an online-only format.

The Call of Duty league and one of the major League of Legends leagues did the same.

The impact of COVID-19 is huge; everyone from the broadcasters, gamers, hosting avenues, and fans have been impacted.

Epic Games has announced that it won’t be hosting the 2020 Fortnite World Cup. All competitions are shifting to an online-only structure.

The first Fortnite World Cup happened last year when the 16-year-old Kyle “Bugha” Giersdorf won the main event and $3,000,000 in prize money.

After he won the main event, he appeared on many mainstream media channels, including The Tonight Show. The event gave everyone hope that esports is a major part of Fortnite in the future.

Although the Fortnite World Cup is canceled, their season-based Fortnite Champion Series (FNCS) are continuing. All Cup Cups and other third party events are still on schedule and will happen.

Additionally, Epic Games said that they would be returning to official broadcasts for the FNCS, which started on May 2nd and could be watched on YouTube and Twitch.