The International 10 is supposed to take place on August 5 in Sweden, but yesterday Valve announced unforseen complications to their plans. With only one and a half months to look for alternatives, the developers will be hard pressed to find another European country on short notice.
With the pandemic still active in many countries and travel restrictions in place the options narrow down to a couple places.
Keeping it in the Nordic Countries
If Valve are trying to keep the biggest Dota 2 event of the year in the Nordic countries there are plenty of options even with Sweden excluded. With incidence rates under 10 Finland and Iceland could also be prime contenders for TI10. Iceland just recently also hosted League of Legends’ Mid-Season Invitational without a hitch. However there is also an argument to be made for a Finnish TI.
Finland has been an extremely strong region in Dota 2 historically with plenty of top players hailing from there. Topson, JerAx and MATUMBAMAN are all former champions at TI from Finland so an excited fanbase should be more than given for a potential Helsinki TI.
Returning to the Roots – Germany
Another option that seems appealing is Germany. Most areas are starting to lift their restrictions as the pandemic seems to be under control for now. While Dota 2 is not the most popular game in Germany, top German players like Nigma’s Kuroky have been part of the scene for a long time now. In addition TI10 in Germany would be a return to where it all began back in 2011. The very first edition of The International with its million dollar prizepool was held in Cologne during Gamescom.
Plenty of venues are also available that have hosted esports events in the past. Be it the known arenas from the Dota Majors in prior years or the Mercedes-Benz Arena in Berlin that has hosted CS:GO Majors and also LoL’s Worlds in 2015.
Eastern Europe
Traditionally a stronghold of Dota 2, Eastern Europe could also be a good alternative for Valve. Not only the recent Kyiv Major hosted by WePlay has shown the ability of Eastern Europe to step up if necessary. EPICENTER in Russia or PGL in Bucharest have also hosted Majors in the past. Looking beyond Dota, Katowice in Poland has also been an esport household name. IEM Katowice has established the city as one of the best places to run esport events over the years.
Of course all these options are with Valve’s intention in mind to keep TI10 in Europe. Should they consider other continents even more options will open up, but after years of having Dota’s largest event in the Americas or in China it should really stay in Europe this year.
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