Galaxy Battles Major Tourney Facing Challenge with RP Government over Drug Tests

by Fanboy SEO · January 5, 2018

Valve recently shared a statement regarding this month’s Galaxy Battles Major and how they are pulling out support after some issues with the Philippine government.

The DOTA 2 blog states:

Based on information we’ve recently confirmed regarding new government regulations for esports players entering the Philippines, we have decided to rescind the tournament’s Major designation, including the Pro Circuit qualifying points, for the Galaxy Battles 2018 tournament. This is based on what we feel are unreasonable infringements on the privacy of the players, as a condition to enter the country. The tournament itself may still proceed, but without any involvement of Valve or the Dota Pro Circuit. This isn’t a reflection on how we feel about fans in the Philippines, and we are sorry for those that were planning on attending the event.

As a result, we’re talking to tournament organizers to try to find a way to run a Major with the invited and qualifying teams, including the Pro Circuit points that would have been available in Galaxy Battles 2018.

Here’s the tl;dr version of it.

DOTA 2 has removed the status of “Major” for Galaxy Battles 2018 because they feel that the government’s drug-testing policy (because its e-sports) is a glaring breach of player privacy. The withdrawal means that no points will be awarded to players who join the competition.

What Does This Mean?

This means that there will be no bearing points-wise to the international and local competitors who join Galaxy Battles 2018. Usually when your favorite teams join a “Major” they earn points in the overall scene. This determines where they are in the world stage.

Having nothing of that would mean that they won’t get anything out of competing. Sure they could win money (which is really huge, just check it out HERE) but the points won’t be there.

I’m still waiting how the organizers of Galaxy Battles 2018 would respond to this new development. Hopefully we get some sort of good news here.