Valve wants TI8 teams to turn down gambling sponsorships

As the top teams in Dota 2 gear up for the biggest tournament of the year, the game’s developer has laid out some changes for the professional scene moving forward.

In a meeting with the teams participating in The International, Valve outlined some changes for next year’s Pro Circuit—and requested the teams change who they do business with for sponsorships.

According to a report by VPEsports, Valve asked teams not to take on sponsorships with gambling companies or websites. They aren’t the first developer to do this—Blizzard and Riot have previously taken a dim view of betting sponsorships. Teams have been forced to end gambling partnerships to take part in competitions run by those developers.

It’s unclear whether teams will need to make any such moves here. There are quite a few TI8 teams with gambling deals, including Virtus Pro. According to the report, Valve will address current sponsorships at a later date.

Valve also let the teams in on some changes for next year’s Dota Pro Circuit. The developer is looking at broadening the points distribution for circuit events to reward more teams at each tournament, while increasing the number of spots for top DPC teams in next year’s International. The top 12 teams will get a direct invite to TI, with only one qualifier slot for each region. That means one less slot for South East Asia and China, and two less for North America.

Among the other topics discussed was the recent Open AI Dota 2 test. After a year of development the Open AI software was able to defeat a team of professional players at the game, and Valve wants TI8 players to take part in more tests during the event in Vancouver.