The 2024/2025 professional Dota 2 season is gradually drawing to a close. Only the two main championships remain – The International and Riyadh Masters, along with a couple of smaller events that won`t hold significant tournament value. Therefore, it`s the right time to start discussing the next season, specifically its optimal format.
It`s quite clear by now that the current format for the professional season hasn`t been the most successful. Essentially, the only beneficiaries are a few dozen tier-1 players who collect massive prize money from non-stop tournaments, and betting companies that have gained enormous advertising time on broadcasts. Viewers and the scene as a whole have lost out.
Yes, the DPC system also received criticism in its time, but it had its advantages:
The primary goal now is to eliminate the feeling of monotony in the competitive season, where winning a trophy no longer feels like a significant achievement because a similar new event begins just the next day (or within a week). Furthermore, the DPC system included Majors with live audiences. While these Majors might not have had the same status as those in 2016, their significance was considerably higher than that of modern PGL Wallachia or BLAST tournaments.
Moreover, DPC kept players on their toes without overwhelming them. On one hand, you couldn`t completely disregard, say, the first DPC cycle, as there was always a chance of unexpectedly being relegated to the second division in a competitive region, thus ruining your whole season. On the other hand, there were far fewer matches, meaning teams had time for things beyond official games and travel. Consequently, teams developed unique strategies, and their identity became clearer. This point stands in stark contrast to the current season, where most teams operate within a single meta paradigm at most tournaments.
While the DPC system was spread out and didn`t allow the schedule to be flooded with numerous third-party tournaments (although they still existed, just in smaller numbers), it paced the competitive Dota 2, specifically tier-1 Dota. This is necessary. We`ve lost the spirit of “big matchups” and significant rivalries. What kind of hype can there be for a Tundra vs. Liquid or Spirit vs. PARIVISION match if they are meeting for the third time in two weeks?
One of the problems with DPC, in my opinion, was the second divisions. While the CIS region had interesting teams and known players, the situation in other regions was quite bleak and sometimes questionable. As a result, the second divisions became a form of support program for less fortunate teams that wasn`t very interesting to the average viewer. Therefore, abandoning the second divisions is an option. Essentially, for the tier 2/3 scene, nothing would change compared to the current season. Teams would still have the same EPL and other small online events. It seems strange to burden Valve with systematically supporting the tier 2/3 scene and giving its participants airtime and money simply for their existence.
So, if there are no second divisions, what would the format be?
It`s worth noting that viewership for the DPC leagues themselves would likely be lower than for events like the current DreamLeague. For example, the current DreamLeague averages about 120k viewers, which is almost 40k more than Europe`s Division 1 averaged in 2023. But there`s a nuance: after the DPC average of 80k, a Major followed. Even if it was The Lima Major, which had its share of pauses and technical issues, the average online viewership jumped to 262k. To put that into perspective, the current DreamLeague season hasn`t reached that mark even at its peak.
To reiterate, perhaps the DPC format isn`t as profitable for all stakeholders involved. But shouldn`t we prioritize the interests of the end consumer, the viewers?
Finley Holt