Valve has announced that the Dota Pro Circuit: 2023 will be the final DPC season.

Just one month before The International 12 is set to kick off with the Group Stage, Valve has announced that there will be no more Dota Pro Circuit.

Started in 2017 with the idea to 'demystify' the TI invite process and help grow the Tier 2 scene, the DPC evolved over the years and ultimately dominated the landscape

Read Evolution of the Dota Pro Circuit

— To a point that strangled out the grassroots and innovation within the competitive scene.

Read Beyond the Summit sidelined by Valve

It also had a hand in edging out third-party tournaments —both LANs and online events.

Read What's to blame for the lack of third party Dota 2 events?

So it seems Valve noticed and has once again decided to make some changes in the hopes of reviving and keeping the ecosystem and competitive scene healthy.

Unfortunately, the DPC brought with it a set of rules and regulations, and those have come with a cost that’s become clearer to us over time: The world of competitive Dota has grown less exciting, less varied, and ultimately much less fun

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It would be too simplistic to say that the slow drift of the Dota competitive scene away from this focus on fun and creativity towards the sterile, near-monoculture of today is entirely the fault of the DPC, but the DPC has generated significant pressure and incentives that led us here. The Dota community has decades of grassroots experience coming up with innovative and entertaining events, and right now the DPC is getting in the way.

With that in mind, we're ending the Dota Pro Circuit: 2023 will be the final DPC season.

Rumors had been out for some time that this was in the pipeline, but the official confirmation hits much harder.

There is no word on what will replace it, if anything at all. The DreamLeague Seasons over the past year using their rating qualification system for Riyadh Masters might be an indicator or have served as a test run.

Read Riyadh Masters 2023: Who is in and who can qualify for the $15M event?

Of course, this is merely speculation. There is a chance that we could just return to the wild wild west when fans, teams AND players sat around the invite countdown, refreshing every 30 seconds to see who would be awarded the next invite.

Dota Pro Circuit is laid to rest