New $500,000 Dota 2 league announced by Epicenter organizer

Epic Esports Events is set to expand its presence in esports even further.

The tournament organizer behind the Epicenter event series is launching a new European and CIS league named the Epic League. The event will run from November 3 to December 13, and boasts a substantial $500,000 prize pool.

Epic Esports Events announced eight competitors for the event, including the following teams:

• Team Secret
• Alliance
• Team Liquid
• Virtus.pro
• Natus Vincere
• OG
• Team Nigma
• Vikin.gg

No other details were given on the league. It is unclear what format the event will use or how many other teams might participate. It is also unclear whether Epic League will feature the same sort of organizational ownership that was recently utilized by Omega League.

Epic Esports Events has long been known for the Epicenter event series, but has hosted a number of smaller leagues in Dota 2. These efforts have expanded in 2020, with Epic hosting the BEYOND Epic series alongside Beyond the Summit and running the Epic Prime League. It also had a hand in putting together Omega League.

Tournament organizers look to fill The International 10’s void

The spring and summer were brutal for Dota 2 teams as teams were forced into a brutal grind of online leagues with relatively modest prize pools following the indefinite delay of The International 10. Those struggles seem to be continuing on for most regions, but business is really picking up in Europe.

Omega League boasted an enormous $500,000 prize pool for its European Immortal division. This was followed by the $400,000 ESL One Germany. Now, another $500,000 is set to be in play with the Epic League.

The reason for this sudden influx of cash is that numerous tournament organizers see an opportunity to put together a major standalone Dota 2 event for the first time in years. With The International 10 indefinitely postponed, there’s a competition to fill that gap host the biggest Dota 2 event of 2020.

Counter-Strike: Global Offensive has long had prestigious events independent of Valve, such as IEM Katowice, ESL One Cologne, and DreamHack Winter. Tournament organizers such as Epic Esports Event have their first real chance to do something of this sort, and are willing to put down big money in order to make it happen.