Valve has added team bundles to Dota 2 for 17 esports organizations. NAVI is not among them

On the night of May 11-12, Valve added bundles to Dota 2 for fan support for esports clubs. Fans will have the opportunity to buy one of three sets: bronze, silver, gold. Their cost is $ 2, $ 10 and $ 20, respectively.

In the bronze set, fans will receive only the club badge, in the silver - the badge, sprays and emoticons, and in the gold - all of the above + voice phrases, a loading screen and a special icon that will be displayed on the health bar during the game.

Valve ditched the Battle Pass timed to coincide with The International 2021, as one has already raised over $ 40,000,000. Instead, the Dota 2 developers decided to give fans the opportunity to support their clubs in a different way. 50% of your Fan Pack purchases will be sent to esports organizations.

List of esports clubs that have received support kits

• beastcoast
• Team Secret
• Nigma
• Alliance
• Team Liquid
• LatAm Defenders
• Team Aster
• Arkosh Gaming
• Team Unique
• Team empire
• HellRaisers
• Virtus.pro
• NoTechies
• Simply TOOBASED
• Team Spirit
• Quincy Crew
• Evil Geniuses

Various commentators and analysts have commented on this innovation in different ways. Most of them were skeptical and negative. Yaroslav 'NS' Kuznetsov does not understand why NAVI did not appear in the list of 17 selected clubs and why there are so few of them:

I looked at the teams' bundles and was a little sad, first of all, for some reason, there are 17 instead of 96 (KEKW), there are no heaps of teams, not even Natus Vincere! They will add more, but it's already somehow strange to introduce this function into the game for 1/5 of the teams. Okay, what's inside there, that's what's interesting. Inside the content from the teams made by the teams themselves, phrases, graffiti, emoticons, loading screens. In general, it is good, funny, but what I would like to note here. (I will grumble again, yes)

There is little content. Well, really not enough, 3 phrases, an emoticon, graffiti and 2 loading screens, that's all (and this is in the most expensive set, which costs $ 20). In general, few people use emoticons and graffiti in the game, only you can see the loading screen, you can use only voice chat phrases.

Not added obvious mechanics that would interest players. Among them, at least two (you can throw more):

1) When you buy a bundle and watch the game of the corresponding team, you have a chance to drop an item. This mechanic was before, everyone liked it and was very, very cool, because not only is it a freebie and generally pleasant, but also exclusive items dropped out for different activities of players in the game. For example, someone made a rampag - 10 people get an item signed on such and such a date, in such and such a match, such and such a player made a ramp. Well, cool. What is the problem to return?

2) Player cards. For some reason, I was sure that Valve would guess (and would not be too lazy) to make player cards a permanent mechanic, and not just once a year and at TI. What do I mean? You purchase player cards for a certain season with the subsequent opportunity to form a fantasy team from them during the season/in major/on inte. The cards could be of different tiers, with different unique perks, and so on, well, in short, so that there is an opportunity to collect something rare (and useful, cooler card = you are cooler in the fantasy league). Naturally, they should have been without restrictions on the sale/exchange and should not have disappeared over time.

In fact, in my understanding, player cards are a kind of analogue of stickers from CS: GO. Something that can encourage a fan to buy not one, but a dozen or a hundred bundles (in the hope of getting cool cards) and something that stays with you forever, and then, in certain cases, even starts to rise in price. Only in contrast to stickers, which are simply glued to the weapon and that's it, there is also an interesting mechanics of fantasy leagues, for which they could give out additional buns.

Also, the Battle Pass will not be this year, it seems, no holiday! Give me a lasso on Specter!

PS. It will most likely appear along with the first event, and the first event will be sometime in June.

Arsen 'VeRsuta' Zurabyan was also dissatisfied with the current situation:

I listened to some chants and got the impression that not 50% goes to the team, but they will still be in debt after deducting all taxes, etc. For xs how to explain the hat they were wearing. Well, to be honest, 50% of the teams are not a support club, but free Volvo grandmas.

Maincast studio commentator Alexei 'Bafik' Bafadarov, in turn, was pleased with this update:

Perhaps the best news in two years!