Cover-Credits:
While the locations of the upcoming Majors have already been revealed in advance, many were left wondering on the location of this year’s iteration of The International. The International 2023 (TI12) will retain its format from last year, allowing 12 teams to be directly invited to the event while the remaining slots will be obtainable via Regional Qualifiers.
However, the location of this year’s iteration of TI might have been possibly leaked as rumors are saying that the annual event will take place in a familiar place for older Dota 2 fans.
Is Valve returning to North America for TI12?
With the 2023 DPC well underway, many were left searching for clues on the location of this year’s iteration of The International (TI). The previous TI was held in Singapore last year, where Tundra Esports were crowned champions after displaying dominance throughout the event.
However, the location for this year’s International could take place in Seattle, Washington in October according to a Facebook post by John Patrick Lowrie, who announced that he will be attending the upcoming Lima Major in Peru. Initially, the post had the following caption: “Ellen and I will be traveling to Lima, Peru at the end of February to take part in the first ever South American DotA Major, one of several around the world where the best DotA teams will compete to go to the 2023 DotA International in Seattle this October!”
For those unfamiliar with the name, John is well-known within the Dota 2 community as the voice actor of several Dota 2 heroes, notably Earthshaker, Pudge and Storm Spirit among many others. Ellen McLain, his wife on the other hand voiced Broodmother as well as Death Prophet.
However, the part about The International 2023 was later edited out by John himself. While the community were left puzzled at first, many have begun to talk about the possibility of this year’s iteration making a return to Seattle, where the event was previously held from 2012 to 2017.
While many see it as a possibility due to Valve’s current headquarters being located in Washington as it will make things easier in terms of logistics, others were skeptical about the location as they will rather wait for Valve’s official announcement regarding the venue.
