Valve revealed its plans for the future
Since the outbreak of the pandemic, fans, professional players, and tournament organizers have been waiting from Valve for actions regarding Dota 2: how the developer will support the community, when the DPC season begins, and most importantly - when and where The International 10 begins. And just recently, Valve released a letter where it discloses reasons for their silence and plans for the future.
The reason for such a long delay in making important decisions was the impossibility of predicting the future. While the pandemic was spreading at an incredible rate, there were many obstacles to holding tournaments. They initially decided to host The International 10 based on the experience of third-party tournaments. When it became obvious that none of the scenarios was suitable, it was decided to postpone TI and discuss the future with the organizers.
The organization doesn't deny its guilt in the current situation: its long silence has caused criticism from the community, as it admits, reasonable, as well as many questions. Valve announced that it expects the start of the new DPC season in January-February 2021. They hope that the travel limitations will be more predictable by then, which will allow the planning of tournaments. The date and location of The International 10 were also announced. TI 10 will take place in August 2021 in Stockholm. Valve said they have other countries as backups, but they think the venue's relocation would upset fans.
Valve didn't remain silent about its current plans. They see huge potential in streamers, so they decided to update their DotaTV license. Starting September 15, tournament organizers will have to provide community streamers with a reasonable and simple to execute set of non-monetary requirements, such as displaying the organizers sponsors on their streams or having a slight delay on the games. They believe that this will benefit both parties and that it will support the Dota 2 community.
For the upcoming competitive season, Valve is scheduled to host at least 4 tournaments in Europe and CIS, and three more for China. Other tournaments may appear, which are currently under discussion.