ESL has announced its first Dota 2 event of 2018, which will take place in Malaysia between the 23rd-28th January. The tournament will be classed as a minor on the new Dota 2 Pro Circuit and will see 16 of the world’s best teams battle it out for $400,000 and 400 qualifying points that go towards qualification for Valve’s flagship Dota 2 event, The International.
The tournament will return to the Arena of Stars Resorts, World Genting, Malaysia. A non-defined amount of teams will receive a direct invite to the event, with the remainder being made up of qualifiers from around the world. This marks ESL’s third Dota tournament in the South East Asia area, following on from ESL One Manila in 2016 and ESL One Genting 2017. Back at Genting last time out, Digital Chaos emerged victorious last time out, securing $125,000 conquering The International 7 runners-up Newbee.
South East Asia remains an area of significant growth in esports, and is known for fanatical support. Events in Manila, Philippines have more often than not completely sold out as fans flock in their thousands to catch a glimpse of the world’s best players. Newzoo’s latest report outlines that SEA is the fifth largest region considering the number of esports enthusiasts, but 38% of them play Dota 2, more so than any other game.
Tournaments thus far on the new Dota 2 pro circuit have housed only eight teams, whilst this marks a return to 16. As the tournament is a minor, there’s (comfortably) not as many qualifying points available when compared to a major and only the top four will secure points. Undoubtedly, there’ll be a huge amount of competition for the points when compared to the eight team format we’ve seen from the likes of Starladder, ESL One Hamburg, PGL Open and Dota Pit thus far. Nonetheless, it means more scintillating Dota 2 action for the consumer.
“After this years successful kick-off with our flagship series ESL One, which was held for the very first time at the Arena of Stars in Malaysia, we already knew that it wouldn’t be our last event in Genting. The Southeast Asian Dota 2 community showed us, what real passion looks like and provided us with one of the key factors to create a legendary esports event: atmosphere,” said Ulrich Schulze Senior Vice President of Product at ESL. “We found a strong and reliable partner with Resorts World Genting and together we are looking forward to make ESL One Genting 2018 even bigger and better than last time.”
“Following ESL One Genting 2017, which we saw being a huge success amongst enthusiastic young millennials at the event, Resorts World Genting is proud to be the host as the venue sponsor for the second year running,” said Kevin Tann, Vice President of Promotions & Entertainment at Resorts World Genting. “Esports is recognized as the next big thing in marketing and the size of the global esports audience has rapidly grown. One-fifth of the world is said to actively play video games for an average of an hour a day. This is a complex and fast-changing universe, and we are eager to be part of it. Through ESL One Genting, we hope to connect with esports fans in an authentic way — a way that delivers added value to their experience and to the sport.”
Esports Insider says: Dota returns to Malaysia and ESL One is back at Genting. That’s a whole lot of great Dota 2 action for local fans to feast their eyes upon — with sixteen of the worlds best set to compete for a whopping $400,000 and of course crucial qualifying points. Game on.
