Valve Has to Relocate The International Due to the Pandemic

The International, Valve’s big DOTA 2 tournament, is set to begin soon. As many of you might be aware, The International is basically the esports event of the year, as the world’s top DOTA 2 teams battle it out for frankly ridiculous amounts of cash while millions of people around the world cheer for their favorite teams and regions. And while Valve has been planning for the past few years to host this most important International in Stockholm, Sweden, it seems the Swedish government has other plans.

Over the course of the past year, Stockholm Live and Visit Stockholm continued to reassure us in our regular and constant communications with them that The International - Dota 2 Championships qualified for the same exemptions other elite sporting events there received.

However, despite previous reassurances, we were informed two weeks ago that the Swedish Sports Federation had just voted not to accept esports into the sports federation…

...With the Minister of the Interior failing to recognize The International - Dota 2 Championships as an elite sporting event, anyone attempting to procure a visa for travel into Sweden for TI10 (including players, talent, and staff) would be denied. The absence of this official recognition also means individual border agents would be making decisions about entry for those traveling to the event from countries outside the EU who do not typically need a visa to enter Sweden.

So basically, for the first time ever, the question of if esports count as an actual sport has had consequences in real life: because with this ruling, the International will have to be held somewhere else. Where that somewhere else will be, Valve doesn’t know, but since Qualifiers start tomorrow, they’d better figure it out in a hurry.

It’s probably only a matter of time before esports get the same recognition as traditional sports do. But that time isn’t today, it seems.