Dota Hunger Games: South American teams claim they have not been paid for DPC Tour after four months

Bounty Runes aren't spawning for the SA region.

Anti-Mage winds up a punch at Terrorblade, with the Dota Pro Circuit logo featued.
Image via Valve

With The International 2022 in the books, the Dota 2 world is looking to finalize their rosters before the 2023 DPC season. While some players may decide to take some time off during this time for a vacation, it’s a different story for South American DPC players as they claim that 4D Esports, the organizer for SA DPC, still haven’t paid out teams.

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The issue was brought to Dota 2 fans’ attention by Heitor “Duster” Liberado, who played with Wolf Team during the final months of the 2022 DPC season. 

While this hasn’t been a common occurrence in the Dota world since Valve became more involved with the scene through Majors, there still have been instances where tournament organizers failed to pay out players.

One of the most recent examples, GESC, was sued by Valve as the Asian firm failed to pay out $750,000 to teams, players, talents, and agencies who worked in their events. Despite taking legal action, getting affected parties paid in such cases often takes years.

VGJ.Storm, a former organization that was active in Dota, was still not paid after winning a GESC event in Thailand after two years. At the time of writing, there haven’t been any official statements from Valve or 4D Esports, and the latter has somewhat been inactive on social media since TI11.

Considering players participating in DPC events are looking to live off their earnings from esports, payment delays of this caliber are considered unacceptable and inexcusable. With rents and bills stacking up, players can go through unnecessary distress due to not being able to claim the money they earned by performing to the best of their abilities in a competitive Dota 2 season.

Author
Image of Gökhan Çakır
Gökhan Çakır
Staff Writer
Gökhan is a Staff Writer and Fortnite Lead at Dot Esports. Gökhan graduated as an industrial engineer in 2020 and has since been with Dot Esports. As a natural-born gamer, he honed his skills to a professional level in Dota 2. Upon giving up on the Aegis of Champions in 2019, Gökhan started his writing career, covering all things gaming, while his heart remains a lifetime defender of the Ancients.