On New Year’s Eve, Valve has shared the plan for the upcoming 2021 Dota Pro Circuit (DPC). This year's competition will start on January 18, and will include 2 seasons which will lead up to the International 10. Each season will consist of a six-week league period up to the Majors. After two seasons, qualifiers for the remaining slots for the International 10 will be in Stockholm in August 2021.
The schedule for the two seasons is as follows:
- Season 1: Will take place from January 18th, 2021 to February 28th, 2021. For China, Season 1 will commence on March 14th, 2021, with a break at the midpoint.
- Major 1: The first Major will take place on March 25th, 2021 and will run until April 4th, 2021.
- Season 2: The second season will commence on April 13th, 2021 and will end on May 23rd, 2021.
- Major 2: The second Major will begin on June 2nd, 2021 and will conclude on June 13th, 2021.
One of the major changes to the 2021 DPC is the rejection of previous season points, which are used to divide teams into different leagues and their divisions. Instead, Valve decided that the top four teams from each region would be qualified directly into the Upper division. For others, both the closed and open qualifiers will determine the remaining 12 teams in both divisions.
The top teams in each region will automatically qualify for the Majors at the end of the league, and the allocation of 18 slots in the first Major is as follows:
- Europe - Four slots/Top four teams
- China - Four slots/Top four teams
- Southeast Asia - Three slots/Top three teams
- Commonwealth of Independent States - Three slots/Top three teams
- North America - Two slots/Top two teams
- South America - Two slots/Top two teams
The top two teams in the Lower Division will be promoted and the bottom two teams in the Upper Division will be moved to the lower division. The bottom two teams from the lower division will be eliminated from the league and the two teams that will occupy these slots in the next season will be decided by Open Qualifiers.
