-Update- Gosugamers has received information that Perfect World's new client will not be separated from Steam. Instead, the new client will be a smaller version of Steam and made mostly for Dota 2. It was reported that this is due to Steam's slow updates in China. Our sources told us that Chinese players will most likely be able to connect to the South East Asian server to participate in tournaments.
Chinese Dota 2 servers will be coming on the 28th of April and it may possibly be separated from Steam altogether. This may signify the end of interaction between professional Chinese and South East Asian teams.
Robert Hong Xiao, CEO of Perfect World announced today that China will officially receive their first wave of Chinese Dota 2 servers and it will most likely be separated from Steam. The beta will begin on the 28th of April. The fact that the servers will be separated from Steam has yet to be confirmed due to vague statement stating goodbye got Steam from SGamer.
Gosugamers is currently working hard to reach Valve and Perfect World for more details.
Assuming that it really is separated, the benefit from this may be a big Dota 2 switch from the Warcraft 3 DotA which is still considerably big in China. However, this may also mean the end of interaction between professional Chinese and South East Asian teams.
Despite beta going live for about two years now, China has somewhat been disconnected from the rest of the world due to government restrictions and server problems. The Shanghai server that was in the Dota 2 client has been said by many to not be a real server in Shanghai but instead, located in Hong Kong. Besides that, the invites Valve has so generously been given out over the past year and half clearly stated that these invites will not work in China mostly due to the server issues.
Regardless to say, the announcement for Perfect World today signifies a great chapter in Dota 2 history as we welcome more Chinese players into the mix.
