Valve Gives Up on the Galaxy Battles II Major

Dota 2

January 5, 2018

Radu Muresan

The Galaxy Battles II: Emerging Worlds Major had been included in the Dota Pro Circuit, having a prize pool of 1 million dollars, offering participating teams a total of 1500 qualification points, and being scheduled to start mid-January. But as a result of the new government regulations regarding eSports players entering the Philippines (the event was going to take place in Bulacan), Valve has decided to strip the tournament of its Major status and no longer include it in the Dota Pro Circuit.

The decision was made in order to protect the teams and their players from “unreasonable infringements” on their privacy. As far as Valve is concerned, the tournament may still proceed, but without the company’s involvement. Negotiations are also underway in an attempt to convince the organizers to move the event to a different country.

Here’s Valve’s full statement in connection to this incident:

“Based on information we’ve recently confirmed regarding new government regulations for esports players entering the Philippines, we have decided to rescind the tournament’s Major designation, including the Pro Circuit qualifying points, for the Galaxy Battles 2018 tournament. This is based on what we feel are unreasonable infringements on the privacy of the players, as a condition to enter the country. The tournament itself may still proceed, but without any involvement of Valve or the Dota Pro Circuit. This isn’t a reflection on how we feel about fans in the Philippines, and we are sorry for those that were planning on attending the event. As a result, we’re talking to tournament organizers to try to find a way to run a Major with the invited and qualifying teams, including the Pro Circuit points that would have been available in Galaxy Battles 2018.”

Should the tournament be cancelled entirely, the teams that will be affected the most are the ones that are still trying to make a name for themselves and rarely get the chance to participate in a Major. Examples include paiN Gaming, OpTic Gaming, Team Spirit and VGJ.Thunder.

Some players have already expressed their admiration for Dota 2 fans living in the Philippines, and their hope that the Galaxy Battles II tournament will be held anyway, even without Valve’s support.