192: Chapter 192: The Dota 2 World Championship Begins!

Once the outcry from these players emerged, it almost immediately swept through the global player community.

You must understand, after half a month of competition, the popularity of the league of legends third season had reached an astonishing level; matches between top-tier star teams from various regions could draw nearly 50 million viewers.

Even though the promotional efforts for the dota 2 Global Finals were quite staggering, the league of legends tournament was still able to find gaps in the shadow of dota 2, constantly producing matches and player plays that became hot topics across the entire internet.

Although previously, most viewers and players had negative opinions regarding league of legends not joining the Global Esports Alliance, feeling it shouldn't go against the Global Esports Alliance since its monopolistic power was too extreme.

Even so, one thing remained unchanged in the hearts of these viewers: at the very least, the league of legends tournament this year should be able to continue.

Regardless of whether its final popularity could surpass the dota 2 Global Finals, it would at least be able to finish the season.

But no one expected that, just days before the dota 2 competition was set to begin, so many league of legends players would actually denounce Riot Games and even denounce Langchao Group!

You have to realize, many of these players pointed out, bit by bit, the dissatisfaction they felt during the competition, putting their grievances—whether regarding professionalism or the staff's attitude toward the players—directly out in the open.

Although many of these accusations were not grounded in fact, the fact that so many players spoke out simultaneously did indeed shock many viewers and players.

It also gave rise to the same thought: since this tournament is really so unprofessional, and since you can't run esports well, why not just join the Global Esports Alliance?

For a time, the internet was filled with negative discussions regarding Langchao Group's previous choice.

"I have to say, this move by Tencent is ruthless, cutting off all paths of retreat, but they really do have the resources to easily build a professional esports league. If things really don't work out, what would be so bad about league of legends just joining them!"

"That's right, your tournament can't even satisfy the players, it's purely a bush-league operation, why not just join?"

"We want to watch exciting and professional matches; isn't cooperation a win-win?"

"If the popularity of the league of legends tournament alone could crush the Global Esports Alliance, then I'd respect you, but if it can't, then hehe."

Amidst the intense online discussion, just one day passed.

With only one day left until the Opening Match of the dota 2 Global Finals.

The official dota 2 Weibo account finally announced the list of 32 teams for this Global Finals. These teams were participating as clubs, complete with support services like coaches and tactical analysts.

At the same time, the home city for each team was also revealed, so when the regional dota 2 leagues begin next year, local fans can go to their respective club's home ground to watch the games.

However, since this information had been teased before, the audience wasn't too surprised; after all, dota 2 had claimed from the start that it wanted to create a professional esports event, so it would have been strange without these things.

But what shocked countless viewers and players the most was the player roster for these clubs!

Many netizens realized almost instantly that the star players who had withdrawn from or been eliminated from the league of legends third season just days ago were all on this list!

Uzi had joined a dota 2 team named RG, and his teammates were the very same players who had spoken out with him to denounce league of legends!

Someone opened the list and counted: among these 32 teams, there were actually 20 star players who had participated in the league of legends third season!

This number was quite staggering.

The other players participating in the dota 2 Global Finals were not simple either. Because there was no time to conduct basic qualifying matches, they went straight to the Global Finals.

Therefore, Pony chose the strategy with the most traffic. Many of the players were dota 2 streamers from various major domestic and international streaming platforms!

As long as their ladder ranking was decent and they had a certain fan base, they were invited. At the same time, players from the league of legends third season who had a foundation in dota 2 and good skills were also directly contacted.

In the end, they reached out to high-ranking players from the top down on the global server ladder.

For this first dota 2 Global Finals, Pony didn't care about the quality of the players or the matches; he had only one requirement: enough popularity, enough traffic!

With the official announcement of the list, many netizens finally snapped back to reality. So, these people had all become traitors!

"I was wondering why they were suddenly taken down 3-0, and why they suddenly denounced Langchao Group. So, they had been contacted by Tencent all along. Tell us, how much money did you take?"

"And there are those who withdrew before the matches were even finished, only to join a dota 2 club—do you have no shame? I've really never seen such a shameless move, betraying trust!"

"The person above shouldn't say that; a wise bird chooses the tree to nest in. Since the league of legends tournament is a bush-league operation, why shouldn't they choose a better, professional esports league?"

"Case closed, the person above is a moderator for Uzi's fan group."

During these past few days, facing the storm from the outside world, Langchao Group did not make any public statements, simply continuing to proceed with the matches in each region as planned.

In fact, several days ago, Qin Mo already knew that Tencent was secretly contacting some of the star players from the third season.

After all, in this world, before league of legends was released, the only game that all MOBA players globally could play was dota.

Many players on the teams that advanced to the third round were previously high-ranking dota or dota 2 players. Since dota 2 was going to host a Global Finals, these star players who already had a fan base were the main targets for Pony to poach.

So, after learning this news, Qin Mo quickly understood what Pony was trying to do. It was poaching.

He also immediately contacted many star teams and players, but he was relieved to find that most of the star players understood who had given them their current achievements and disdained to do such treacherous things.

Many top teams, like Demon King Team and A Shui Team, not only flatly rejected the contact from the dota 2 side but also took the initiative to inform Langchao Group about this information.

However, even so, there were still quite a few star players who defected; this was something that couldn't be helped.

After all, the contract breach penalty in the contracts signed with them at the beginning was not high, only a million, which Tencent could pay easily.

You must understand, at the time, many of these players were college students without income, and they wouldn't have dared to sign if they saw an intimidatingly high breach penalty, fearing that Riot Games might pull some tricks, like arranging an impossible schedule to force them to terminate their contracts.

On the internet, this kind of thing is not uncommon. Many influencers and streaming companies specialize in making money from breach penalties, so many young people are aware of this.

And there was only one reason that made Uzi and the others truly decide to defect to dota 2: Tencent was paying way too much!

You have to realize, even if they won the third season in Great Xia, the final prize money would only be 3 million, which, when divided among five people, would be 600,000 each—not to mention they didn't even know if they could win.

But the signing bonus Tencent gave to Uzi alone was 2 million after tax! And that didn't include the prize money for achieving good results in the dota 2 Global Finals.

Once this number was put on the table, it instantly tempted many league of legends third season players. Uzi, because he was already in the losers' bracket, had an even lower cost; he could lose a match and join dota 2 without even needing to pay the breach penalty.

With the official announcement of the final club roster, the popularity of the dota 2 Global Finals climbed to another level.

In order to get the Global Esports Alliance off to a good start, Pony's investment this time was truly significant. At this moment, regardless of the reason.

When the time came for the Opening Match of the dota 2 Global Finals, the eyes of the global internet were almost entirely locked onto this so-called professional esports event!