With the end of the Dota Pro Circuit, the professional Dota 2 scene has taken on a very new look over the past few months, with top-level competitions happening almost every week. Already the calendar for the rest of the current season is packed, but when the next season begins later this year, another tournament organizer is set to enter the fray, with BLAST looking to enter Dota in a big way.
BLAST has run a Dota tournament before, hosting an online-only event in 2020 that featured a unique, if underwhelming, bounty system that tried to make things a little different. It was ok, but quickly forgotten as soon as LAN Dota returned and things got back to normal. So this is effectively the company taking its first step into the world of Dota, and they plan to do so in style.
“We want to apply many of our learnings from operating other games,” said Andrew Haworth, VP of Ecosystems, Valve and Riot Games at BLAST. “We will look into how we can elevate the in-game viewing experience. BLAST prides itself on unparalleled production quality and game-changing fan-first moments while bringing together the best teams and biggest superstars to fight it out for glory.”
After the end of the DPC the Dota pro scene has once again become a bit of a free-for-all, with tournament organisers competing for every available slot on the calendar. This year has already been packed with big events and with BLAST set to enter the fray next year the calendar is looking busier than ever. While it will be interesting to see how the pro teams react to a busier schedule next year, for tournament organisers this new format has presented an enticing opportunity.
“It’s a game we’ve loved as fans and players for many years, said Haworth. “We’ve been following closely as an interested tournament organiser for the last few years. As we’ve grown as a business, you’ve seen BLAST expand into further titles, and Dota has always been high on our wish list. With the recent changes to the Dota ecosystem, we feel it’s the perfect opportunity for BLAST to come in and provide the community with the next level of Dota tournaments.”
If BLAST can execute Dota tournaments that are on the same level as their CS offerings then the Dota scene could finally have another top-tier organiser that can compete with ESL when it comes to big events. While there is no guarantee they will be able to pull it off, their history should give Dota fans hope, and they appear to be in it for the long run.
“BLAST’s ambition is to create a Dota ecosystem and offering that will be around for the long term,” said Haworth. “We don’t have short term aspirations and plan to build a product that will succeed for years to come. We have shown with BLAST Premier and our Counter-Strike offering, that there are opportunities to create long-term sustainable and successful esports ecosystems when the right approach to production, broadcast and collaborating with teams is taken.”