Valve has opened applications for tournament organizers interested in hosting DPC events in 2023. In the process, the game developer has also publicly revealed the dates for the Dota 2 regional Leagues and the Majors for next year. There will be three DPC tours with each tour including one regional league and one Major.
The listing which is live on the official Dota 2 website allows tournament organizers to run multiple events. The regional league applications will be valid for all three tours whereas TOs can also bid for each Dota 2 Major.
The key difference between 2022 and 2023 is the additional days before the start of the Major. Division 1 teams that qualify for the upcoming Major will have nearly 25 days of break before the next Major. Valve has also separated the Division 1 and Division 2 matches which will take place on completely separate dates. It will be interesting to see how this affects the DPC regional league viewership, especially for the lower division.
Just like the past few years, the DPC 2023 circuit will also feature six different regions. Each region will have its own regional league with teams playing in two divisions. The best teams from each region will advance to the associated Dota 2 Major.
Each division will have eight teams competing. Teams in Division 2 will have an opportunity to move up to Division 1. Whereas Division 1 teams have the possibility of qualifying for the Major.
The Dota 2 Majors further contribute to a team’s DPC points tally that is the eligibility criteria for their chances of receiving a TI invite. The International is the pinnacle of Dota 2 esports with multimillion dollar prize pools every year. The mega event has repeatedly commanded the highest prize pool in all of esports for several years now.
Interested tournament organizers can submit their applications over the next couple of weeks. The due date of the proposal is August 24 with Valve set to evaluate the proposals a week later. The final selections will take place on or before September 7 after which Valve and the TOs will sign the contracts for next year.
The 2023 DPC circuit regional leagues will be significantly shorter compared to 2022. The regional leagues will run for nearly three weeks compared to six this year.
Additionally, the Division 1 and Division 2 matches will now take place on completely different dates thereby giving fans something to look forward to throughout the season.
