Valve reveals DPC 2023 format: 3 Dota 2 Majors and regional leagues cover image

Valve reveals DPC 2023 format: 3 Dota 2 Majors and regional leagues

2023 will have a similar format to this year with three Dota 2 Majors and three regional leagues. Here are the

Valve has opened applications for tournament organizers interested in hosting DPC events in 2023. In the process, the game developer has also publicly revealed the dates for the Dota 2 regional Leagues and the Majors for next year. There will be three DPC tours with each tour including one regional league and one Major.

The listing which is live on the official Dota 2 website allows tournament organizers to run multiple events. The regional league applications will be valid for all three tours whereas TOs can also bid for each Dota 2 Major.

2023 DPC regional Leagues and Major dates

The key difference between 2022 and 2023 is the additional days before the start of the Major. Division 1 teams that qualify for the upcoming Major will have nearly 25 days of break before the next Major. Valve has also separated the Division 1 and Division 2 matches which will take place on completely separate dates. It will be interesting to see how this affects the DPC regional league viewership, especially for the lower division.

Winter Tour 

  • Open Qualifiers: December 11-13, 2022 
  • Closed Qualifiers: December 14-15, 2022 
  • Division 1 Regional League Tournament: January 9-29, 2023 
  • Division 2 Regional League Tournament: January 30 - February 19, 2023
  • Major Tournament: February 24 - March 5, 2023 

Spring Tour 

  • Open Qualifiers: March 13-15, 2023 
  • Closed Qualifiers: March 16-22, 2023 
  • Division 1 Regional League Tournament: March 13 - April 2, 2023 
  • Division 2 Regional League Tournament: April 3-23, 2023 
  • Major Tournament: April 28 - May 7, 2023 

Summer Tour 

  • Open Qualifiers: May 15-27, 2023 
  • Closed Qualifiers: May 18-24, 2023 
  • Division 1 Regional League Tournament: May 15 - June 4, 2023 
  • Division 2 Regional League Tournament: June 5-25, 2023 
  • Major Tournament: June 30 – July 9th, 2023

Just like the past few years, the DPC 2023 circuit will also feature six different regions. Each region will have its own regional league with teams playing in two divisions. The best teams from each region will advance to the associated Dota 2 Major. 

Each division will have eight teams competing. Teams in Division 2 will have an opportunity to move up to Division 1. Whereas Division 1 teams have the possibility of qualifying for the Major. 

The Dota 2 Majors further contribute to a team’s DPC points tally that is the eligibility criteria for their chances of receiving a TI invite. The International is the pinnacle of Dota 2 esports with multimillion dollar prize pools every year. The mega event has repeatedly commanded the highest prize pool in all of esports for several years now.

Interested tournament organizers can submit their applications over the next couple of weeks. The due date of the proposal is August 24 with Valve set to evaluate the proposals a week later. The final selections will take place on or before September 7 after which Valve and the TOs will sign the contracts for next year.

What's different in the DPC 2023 format?

Tundra Esports won TI11 after a dominating 3-0 victory over Team Secret. Image Credit: Valve/Dota2.
Tundra Esports won TI11 after a dominating 3-0 victory over Team Secret. Image Credit: Valve/Dota2.

The 2023 DPC circuit regional leagues will be significantly shorter compared to 2022. The regional leagues will run for nearly three weeks compared to six this year.

Additionally, the Division 1 and Division 2 matches will now take place on completely different dates thereby giving fans something to look forward to throughout the season.