The esports tournament organiser BLAST has announced its entrance into Dota 2, committing to five events in the next two years. The first studio event is scheduled for November 2024, and the company has promised to innovate the broadcast, similar to how it did when first entering Counter-Strike.

BLAST keeps expanding

Committing to a second Valve esport, BLAST has announced its entrance into Dota 2 esports with five events, which are dated between November 2024 and the same month a year later. While the company hasn't shared details of the locations at the time of writing, it has provided the following dates:

• 26th November - 1st December 2024
• 4th - 9th February 2025
• 6th - 11th May 2025
• 14th - 19th October 2025
• 25th - 30th November 2025

"As we’ve grown as a business and expand into further titles, Dota has always been on our wish list. With the recent changes to the Dota ecosystem we feel it’s the perfect opportunity for BLAST to come in, provide the community with the next level of tournaments and become the new home of Dota 2," Andrew Haworth, VP of Ecosystems at BLAST shared.

Over the last two years, Valve has made strategic moves to de-emphasise its flagship event, The International, as the most important event in its game's esports calendar - pulling crowd-funding resources away from the prize pool. 

Innovating the broadcast experience

On top of announcing these events, BLAST also shared that it will broadcast on its own esports live viewing platform BLAST.tv. It promises to bring similar innovations to those it had done to Counter-Strike in the Dota 2 scene.

"I think at its core, the viewing experience will have all the great things Twitch has to offer with that added layer of live stats, being able to engage and have your say on the broadcast, and being able to focus on the individual players' POVs as well as the broadcast," Head of Product, Rory McEvoy said in a Q&A on the company’s website.

McEvoy also shared that efforts will "mirror what we’ve done in CS but will be very specifically built with the Dota audience and the game itself in mind."

Over the last couple of years, BLAST has expanded its portfolio of esports titles, adding Fortnite, Rocket League, and R6 Siege to its covered titles. With Dota 2, it expands into another Valve-owned esports system after several years of producing top-tier Counter-Strike: Global Offensive events, including the BLAST.tv Paris Major and the BLAST Premier and Pro Series.