Valve is contributing its financial might to Movistar Liga Pro Gaming, one of South America’s premier esports league, to produce two separate Dota 2 tournaments amounting to $45,000 in prize money, the league announced.
The organizer will produce Movistar Liga Pro Gaming’s sixth season with $25,000 up for grabs, an increase from $10,000 in season five. Sixteen teams, split into two separate tiers to accommodate amateur squads, will compete.
A new edition titled Final Series will see eight teams—the top seven from the tournament’s Upper Division and the winner of the Lower Division—clash for $20,000. Both competitions will take place in the final quarter of 2020.
Dota 2 esports hasn’t been exempted from the COVID-19 pandemic’s global impact. With the Dota Pro Circuit on hold indefinitely, these events will help ignite the competition in the South American region and “keep the scene active” ahead of the DPC’s hopeful return in 2021.
Luis Carrillo Pinto, the CEO of Live Media Esports Entertainment, the producer of the event, said Valve’s contribution is an affirmation of the group’s efforts over the past three years to “professionalize the local scene.”
“Dota 2 is the second most popular esport in Peru, with audiences that can even exceed professional soccer in some cases,” Pinto said. “Our entire staff is preparing all the production details to create the best audiovisual and content experience for the enormous legion of esports fans in our country.”
