GabeN is Seriously Considering Hosting Dota 2 LANs in New Zealand

In a recent interview, Valve’s co-founder, Gabe Newell, talked about a “realistic possibility” of holding Dota 2 and CS:GO tournaments in New Zealand, stating that it was the only country where it could be done safely. He also mentioned that many Valve employees had expressed their desire to work in New Zealand. 

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GabeN highlights the possibility of organizing Dota 2 tournaments in New Zealand

GabeN, in an interview with 1 News stated that New Zealand was the only country in the world where Valve could do Dota 2 and CS:GO tournaments safely. He mentioned that the emerging mutations of the virus increased the likelihood of hosting LAN events there.

“New Zealand is the only country in the world where you can do Counter Strike or Dota tournaments safely or things like that. As long as Covid keeps mutating, that certainly is increasing the likelihood that we'll be having events here. Literally could not, if I had to guess when it would be safe to do an in-person tournament anywhere in the world, it would be very hard for me to say that, whereas I think, with a lot of confidence, we would be able to plan for that in New Zealand. You know, hopefully, the procedures can be put in place so that becomes feasible, like you know this is what the quarantine would look like. It is a realistic possibility and it gets realistic all the time.”

Gabe also mentioned that his employees at Valve had a strong interest in moving to New Zealand. He added that game development companies could flourish here since the country had great public health infrastructure and local development talent.

The business tycoon has been residing in New Zealand before the onset of the pandemic. The global lockdowns in March 2020 had forced him to remain stuck in the country, but over the months, he eventually applied and got the country’s residence. He now has been staying there for more than a year. 

Gabe also mentioned that many people had accompanied him to the country and that he had turned them into Dota players. He humorously also stated that he has been taking classes in Dota to get them to play in a way he wants. He added that he had been a Dota 2 clan- a cannibal clan.

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Valve has not yet revealed the country where the first Major of the 2021 DPC Season 1 will be held. The only information we know about the tournament is that Valve will host the tournament somewhere between March-April 2021. It will be interesting to see if GabeN decides to hold it in New Zealand.