Valve reaffirms commitment to True Sight and the competitive Dota 2 scene, but questions linger for 2023

True Sight has become a core part of the Dota 2 experience surrounding The International. Ever since its debut in 2016, the series has allowed fans to get an inside look into top contenders’ journey to the TI finals and how the game is played at the highest level on the game’s biggest stage. 

Rumors indicating that the Dota 2 documentary could be axed in 2023 started circulating around the Internet last week, which left fans confused and upset that such an incredible documentary series would fade into the void. But in a behind-closed-doors meeting with the teams participating in TI11, Valve assured players (and by extension, fans) that True Sight would still be on the table.

According to Dota 2 journalist Kenny Utama, Valve organized an official meeting with TI11 participants to discuss Dota 2’s competitive future and the state of the scene surrounding the game as a whole. During the gathering, Valve informed the players that True Sight was going to continue in 2023 while re-affirming players of their commitment to grow Dota 2 in the upcoming competitive year—though the specifics of how they would accomplish this are still unknown.

Valve generally holds these meetings every year, and most of them have been rather one-sided given the state of the competitive scene in the last year or two.

Though Valve hasn’t released any details regarding the 2022/2023 DPC season just yet outside of a slightly altered schedule, fans haven’t been hearing good news. Just this week Valve burnt another bridge, with Beyond the Summit announcing that it wouldn’t return as organizer for the next Dota Pro Circuit. With one of the oldest organizers in the scene not returning, SUNSfan also mentioned that there could be an announcement after TI11 which could cause a great amount of backlash from the Dota 2 community.

While The International is considere the pinnacle of a Dota year, players, like Team Secret’s Puppey have been vocal about the problems of the current DPC system. The TI all-timer specifically bashed the lack of qualifying options for TI and poor scheduling for the DPC regional leagues.

If Valve actually does plan to keep that promise and put more work into the competitive scene over the next year after a period of the community steadily losing faith in them, the developer will likely need to sit down with the pros and potentially listen to some of the community feedback to produce a better DPC season. True Sight alone won’t be enough to carry the entire competitive Dota 2 scene.