Valve cancels Dota's Winter Tour Major amid Omicron outbreak

The start of 2022 has been quite difficult for many players and teams in the professional scene. Between the increases of COVID cases and the return of flight restrictions, many events have had to shift to an online format due to health concerns.

Some have taken more extreme measures, due to the complexity of event formats, including a few important tournaments that have had to be sadly cancelled, such as the Dota Pro Circuit's Winter Tour Major.

After an unexpected statement from the game’s developers, Valve has been forced to cancel what would be their first big event of the year due to the emergence of COVID-19 variants such as Omicron, with teams from different regions encountering obstacles to sending their players to participate.

“As the Winter Tour of the Dota Pro Circuit 2021-2022 season draws to a close, we've made the difficult decision to cancel the first Major. While hopes were high that we could host an international LAN event, the discovery and spread of new strains of COVID-19 and the resulting increase of travel restrictions have made it unfeasible for all qualified teams to gather for a LAN tournament,” Valve said in their statement.

Due to the cancellation of the Winter Tour Major, Tour 1 will conclude after all of the regional league tournaments have ended, while players who have participated in Fantasy will receive their rewards before the start of Tour 2.

Also, due to the cancellation of the first Major of the season, Valve announced a new redistribution in terms of the points at stake between the second and third Major, so that the balance of points between regional and cross-region play remains the same.

Major 2:

• 1st Place - 680 Points
• 2nd Place - 610 Points
• 3rd Place - 530 Points
• 4th Place - 460 Points
• 5th/6th Place - 385 Points
• 7th/8th Place - 240 Points

Major 3:

• 1st Place - 820 Points
• 2nd Place - 740 Points
• 3rd Place - 670 Points
• 4th Place - 590 Points
• 5th/6th Place - 515 Points
• 7th/8th Place - 360 Points

This sudden announcement was received with both frustrations and criticism from some of the players, as this hurts the teams that were contesting the qualification to said competition, although they will also obtain the points awarded by the regional tournaments.

Valve concluded by confirming they will continue to assess the situation regarding international travel for the next Majors, as the second Tour approaches.

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Featured image courtesy of Valve.