Valve axes Battle Pass for TI12

Photo from Valve | Edited by: Dave Bernasibo, Esports INQ

Video game publisher Valve just recently announced the removal of the Battle Pass for the upcoming The International 12. The company is looking to implement changes in the way it celebrates its most extensive tournament run of the year. 

“Community response to New Frontiers has helped us build confidence that working less on cosmetic content for the Battle Pass and more on a variety of exciting updates is the right long-term path for Dota as both a game and a community,” said Valve. The New Frontiers is patch 7.33 for Dota 2, which brought many new features, including teleportation portals, a relocated Roshan pit, and stronger neutral creeps, to name a few. This steer in a new direction breaks the long-standing tradition held by Dota 2 fans around the world— surpassing the last year’s prize pool by purchasing the Battle Pass.

A little history

Photo from Valve

The TI Battle Pass is held as a yearly tradition for Dota 2 fans, using the funds collected from purchases of the Battle Pass to increase that year’s prize pool for The International. The Dota 2 Compendium, was the predecessor of the Battle Pass, containing several in-game cosmetics for couriers, heroes, and wards. The Compendium started in 2013 and was received well by the Dota 2 community, with every purchase of it contributing to the overall prize pool for The International 2013. The Compendium would run for two more years until it was replaced by the more modern TI Battle Pass.

The Battle Pass worked differently from the Compendium. Whereas the Compendium had stretch goals that rewarded players once a certain threshold on the prize pool was reached, the Battle Pass provided instant gratification to players, giving them rewards as soon as they reached a certain Battle Pass level. The Battle Pass also contained a lot more rewards compared to the Compendium, with bundles, couriers ward skins, and at the beginning of 2021, contained persona cosmetics for certain heroes.

Moving forward

“We’re going to continue on the path that started with New Frontiers. This means we’re building a wide variety of features and content for the game, delivered in different ways,” Valve said about their plans going forward. This means potentially decreasing the release of cosmetics with every patch starting with The International.

Valve plans to ship a TI-themed update in September, containing updates that will still contribute to the prize pool with a focus on the event and the players, but less on the cosmetic items the TI Battle Pass has commonly been associated with in the past. 

With a lesser focus on the structural constraints set by the Battle Pass development, Valve promises to go back to making content in the way they know best: “by coming up with fresh ideas of all scales and shapes and exploring them with you.” 

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