Valve Is Looking For ‘Host Cities’ For Their Next Dota 2 ‘The International’ Tournament

Valve’s The International Dota 2 tournament is one of the biggest eSports event of the year. The prize pool is simply ridiculous where every year, it only seems to be increasing. It also has the ability to draw a huge crowd, which is why it doesn’t come as a surprise that Valve is now taking an Olympics-like approach to the event.

According to a request for proposal document, Valve is approaching the next The International tournament like the Olympics, where they are soliciting proposals from host cities who might be interested in hosting the event. The company offers up some advantages to being a host city, where they cite an influx of visitors who will spend money in those cities, as well as give locals in the cities (temporary) jobs while helping to setup the event.

The document reads (in part), “Each [of the previous host cities] has seen an influx of visitors (about half of the attendees) that patronize their hotels, restaurants, and other tourist attractions,” Valve says. “Moreover, Valve works with local suppliers to source equipment such as lighting, rigging, broadcast equipment, and internet bandwidth. Valve also hires local skilled laborers to handle catering, construction, décor, printing, marketing, security, transportation, and entertainment. All of this typically results in a significant boost to the host city’s economy.”

Valve is giving hosts until the 31st of March to respond, so for now, it is unclear as to where the next tournament will be held. That being said, the coronavirus outbreak is proving to be a damper on major events, so it remains to be seen how Valve will handle this.

Tyler Lee
Categories: Gaming
Tags: dota 2, Valve