It’s been nearly two months since The Dota 2 International event ended, giving out one of the largest prize pool ever for the event. After a brief respite, Valve has announced the location for its next Fall Major for Dota 2: Boston, Massachusetts.
Often considered the most competitive circuit, Dota 2’s Fall Major will be held at the Wang Theater, marking it the first time a Valve-led Dota 2 major will be held in North America. According to Polygon, yesterday Valve announced the event will feature a $3 million prize pool. Valve will partner up with PGL, who coordinated the well-received Manila Major earlier this year. The two will hold the competitive event from December 3-4 and 7-10. There will be an open qualifying round that will be held later this month on October 23-26. That will be quickly followed by regional qualifiers on October 27-30.
This year’s Fall Major will feature several new changes. After two days of group stages, sixteen teams will enter a single-elimination bracket with each match played for a best-of-three series. This change-up is mostly likely due to the need to fit the events in a three day window – the International lasts almost a full seek, with the same number of teams. The Grand Finals event, which will be held in December, will be a best-of-five series – the winner receiving the $3 million prize pool.
Many aren’t too happy with the choice of venue, however. The Wang Theatre in Boston does not support the 360-degree staging that has become iconic for Dota 2 events over the last year. Others are complaining that the Fall Major won’t be held in Europe, given that North America already hosts the International in the same year.
Valve has announced that tickets for the Main Event will be available for sale starting on Friday, October 14th. The Boston Fall Major will be the third Dota 2 event of the year, the first two taking place in Shanghai and Manila, Philippines. The Boston event kicks off a new cycle of event, which will feature another major in Spring 2017 and will conclude with the International 7 on August 2017.