The International 10 turned out to be one of the greatest Esports events conducted since the global outbreak of the pandemic. However, as the teams are yet to recover from the excitement of playing on the greatest stage that DOTA 2 offers, Valve has already revealed the dates of the upcoming season to the professional players.
According to a Tweet posted by Alliance on 6th October, the upcoming season for the DOTA Pro Circuit could be starting a lot sooner than expected. Additionally, based on the dates revealed by Alliance, The International would most likely become a Fall Event rather than the usual Summer schedule.
Let's dive in and take a look at everything that was revealed by Alliance on Twitter regarding the DPC Season 2021-22 dates.
DPC 2021-22 Season Schedule Revealed
Alliance's tweet not only confirms a shift in the usual schedule for The International but also reveals the fact that the upcoming season will feature three leagues across all regions and three Majors as part of the DPC. Although Alliance has confirmed the dates for all three leagues, the dates for the Majors are yet to be confirmed.
Here are the dates revealed by Alliance:
- First League - November 29th to December 22nd. January 5th to 23rd after Christmas and New Year's break.
- First Major Estimated Dates - February 17th to 27th
- Second League - March 14th to April 27th
- Second Major Estimated Dates - May 11th to 21st
- Third League - June 6th to July 17th
- Third Major Estimated Dates - August 4th to 14th
Having said that, it safe to say that after two leagues in the previous season, Valve is definitely trying to ensure more professional action for DOTA 2. This in turn could also mean that the developers are trying to build a more sustainable structure for the esports scene.
However, it will be really interesting to see what effect this change in structure will have on the coveted International.
How will this structure affect The International?
Apart from the obvious fact that The International is going to become a Fall event held in October/November, the change in structure could have a notable effect on The International's continuously growing prize pool.
Valve maintaining multiple prize pools for the Majors and the Regional Leagues being a notable factor, the concept of two separate Battle Passes might also have a blow on TI's prize pool.
Given that most of TI's prize pool is funded by 25% of all annual Battle Pass sales, it will be interesting to see Valve's stance with no fixed Battle Pass for the tournament. Nevertheless, considering that Valve could be earning close to twice as much as they used to by releasing two Battle Passes across the year, the developers could choose to break all record held by themselves when it comes to TI's prize pool.
However, until and unless there's any official confirmation from Valve, it remains extremely difficult to speculate on the DPC's future. After all, even the dates for the upcoming season were revealed by Alliance and not Valve.
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