Dota 2 developer Valve has canceled the first major tournament of the season. According to a blog post, the new coronavirus variants were decisive.

The championship points to be earned at the major will therefore be distributed among the two other planned majors. There is resentment in the community about the decision and a lack of communication.

"I just cried, and I'm probably going to keep crying tonight because I'm very emotional right now," Quinn "Quinn" Callahan said on his Twitch stream in response to the cancellation. "I've spent the last nine years of my life trying to get good at this game and it just feels disrespectful.»

With Quincy Crew, Quinn was among the first to qualify for the Winter Major. "Valve always says that this is a joint project, but lately players are not treated like that at all. There is always silence and we are shown off.»

Growing discontent in Dota community

The discontent in the community about Valve's handling of the professional Dota scene has probably never been so high. The main criticism is that it is also now possible to hold tournaments in other e-sports disciplines. Valve does not seem to have any contingency plans here and usually only communicates at the last moment.

Meanwhile, calls for boycotts came from the community, but also suggestions for a replacement program. Thus, instead of the international major, there could be smaller minor tournaments in the online mode. Whether Valve will implement this remained open at first.