Game developer Valve has selected esports tournament platform Epulze and marketing agency Esports Business Network (EBN) to host the upcoming 2023 Dota 2 Pro Circuit Southeast Asia (SEA DPC).
Both companies will leverage local studios and partners to create broadcasts in multiple languages, including Tagalog, Thai, Vietnamese, Mongolian and Indonesian.
In addition, viewers will benefit from content focusing on the culture, food and traditions of SEA’s nations and cities. This will be also integrated into part of the broadcasts.
The first stage of the SEA DPC is set to kick off on January 9th, 2023, and will feature a total prize pool of $205,000 (⁓£167,000). The format for the 2022/23 season will be similar to previous years, with the regional league lasting three weeks and the divisions taking place in separate iterations.
Epulze and EBN have also worked together in the past to produce English-language broadcasts of the 2021/22 DPC South America Tour 1, amongst other well-known qualifiers.
Earlier this year, Epulze joined forces with Swiss sports marketing company Infront to launch a new Dota 2 esports tournament circuit called Masters of Gaming (MOG). This deal marked the company’s first collaboration after securing a £4.7m investment in April 2021.
Pontus Lövgren, Co-Founder and Head of Events & Partnerships at Epulze, commented: “It’s an exciting time for everyone here at Epulze to work with our partners on a ground-breaking event like the SEA DPC.
“This is a wonderful opportunity for us to showcase the professional players at the peak of their games and put a spotlight on the Southeast Asia region and all that it can offer.”
Valve has also seemingly unintentionally confirmed another two tournament organisers for the DPC 2023 Qualifiers in the Dota 2 game client. It looks like indie esports events company Paragon Events will be handling the EEU region, and Chinese gaming company Perfect World will be in charge in China.
