The Dota 2 competitive circuit might finally be making a return to a routine schedule according to a recent update to the Dota 2 database on Steam. As first revealed by DOTA DataMining, in files intended for the official Dota 2 website, there are mentions of three Majors and three regional leagues in the Dota Pro Circuit 2021-22 (DPC 2021-22). According to this data, the upcoming DPC season will now feature three leagues and three majors, held in Fall 2021, Winter 2022, and Spring 2022. The exact dates of these events are currently unknown. When it was originally announced in February 2020, this tournament distribution was supposed to begin with the recently concluded DPC 2021 season, but the pandemic limited its scope to only two majors and leagues.

Dota 2 might be having three majors and three leagues in DPC 2021-22

Valve had announced in 2020 that there would be a change in the structure of the DPC following The International 10 (TI10). The system would divide the six regions into regional leagues and then each league would culminate with a Major. There would be three seasons in total.

Unfortunately, the pandemic ruined plans since DPC and TI10 were both postponed. The DPC 2021 then resumed in January 2021, but only with two Majors and two leagues.

As of now, the structure that was originally prescribed seems to be returning, as the details regarding it have appeared on the Steam files for the Dota 2 website.

These files also mention the WePlay AniMajor in June 2021 as well as TI10 in October 2021. However, no months or other information about the Fall, Winter, and Spring regional leagues and Majors in DPC 2021-22 is mentioned. Valve is yet to make an official statement regarding the upcoming DPC season.

TI10 will take place in Bucharest, Romania from 7th Oct - 17th Oct 2021. According to past iterations, there is usually an offseason following TIs, usually after August, and new DPC seasons usually begin around November. With the delay of TI10, it will be interesting to see how Valve manages to implement this structure if it happens.

Aside from this, professional players have criticized the DPC 2021 format for being extremely long. Each regional league, which was six weeks long, could have been completed in less time, according to many of them. Arif "MSS" Anwar of Quincy Crew had said in a conversation about the format of the DPC:

“Personally, I would want to make it so we play more than one series a week. Because the 2021 season spanned two months with one series a week. It was really long and drawn out.”

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AFK Gaming has reached out to Valve to confirm if the upcoming 2021-22 DPC season will indeed have three seasons. We will update the article if or when we receive a response.