ESL One Hamburg confirmed as Dota 2 Major; three further Valve events confirmed

ESL has officially announced and confirmed the status of ESL One Hamburg as a Dota 2 Major, worth $1 million in prize pool money. Plus, in an email sent to its newsletter followers, the organization has confirmed that three other ESL events will be sponsored by Valve for the new competitive ecosystem.

While ESL, owned by Turtle Entertainment, confirmed Hamburg as a Valve event upon the reveal of the ecosystem via a presser, the presence of the other three events as Valve events were unconfirmed until now. Within the email, they share the dates, plus say the following:

The next Major is going to be ESL One Hamburg 2017 in October and the first of three Majors ESL will host in the upcoming season all around the world! To add even more to that, we will also be hosting one Minor which all in all gives us a fantastic opportunity to deliver more of world-class Dota 2 action and experiences in 2018.

The dates for the events are as follows:

• October 28-29, 2017 — ESL One Hamburg, Major
• January 23-28, 2018 — Minor (TBA)
• February 20-25, 2018 — Major (TBA)
• May 23-27, 2018 — Major (TBA)

According to the fan-facing announcement, ESL One Hamburg will comply with all of Valve’s Majors/Minors requirements, including the six-region qualifier. They have received the $500,000 prize pool bonus from Valve as promised for events that fulfill the event requirements, meaning the prize pool will sit at a massive $1 million. This also means that the event will offer Qualifying Points that count towards players’ and teams’ new point system for The International invites.

ESL is no stranger to Dota 2 events, as the production company held the first-ever Dota 2 Major, the Frankfurt Major, in late 2015. The company also produced several editions of ESL One Dota 2 events in cities such as Frankfurt, New York City and Genting. They were also a production partner for the Manila Masters this past May.