Team Spirit has released a video showcasing the cramped conditions its Dota 2 roster has found itself practicing and competing in for The International 10 in Bucharest, Romania. The team’s manager, Dmitry ‘Korb3n’ Belov, also alleges in the video that these conditions are not the same for all teams and claims organisations that qualified with fewer Dota Pro Circuit points have been allocated smaller practice rooms than those higher up the DPC rankings.
In the video, Korb3n shows the Russian-Ukrainian roster squeezed back-to-back in the kitchen area of a hotel room. He claims his players barely have enough room to recline their gaming chairs without hitting one another, and that players have knocked their heads on lighting fixtures.
Korb3n also claims that the PCs in the practice room – in which Team Spirit will also play its group stage games for TI10 – were without an internet connection.
It appears that it isn’t just Team Spirit that is enduring these less than ideal practicing conditions. Korb3n claims that teams that qualified lower down the DPC rankings, such as Team Spirit, have been allocated smaller rooms like this one, while “teams that are in the top ten have bigger rooms, where they can at least lean back on [their chairs].”
Fresh news coming from the manager of our Dota roster! @Korb3n shows how the practice room looks like and talks about problems which our players have faced 👇🏻#SPIRITIX #SpiritDota pic.twitter.com/lum1NoDIRp
— Team Spirit (@Team__Spirit) October 4, 2021
While the road to TI10 has been extremely bumpy for Valve and organiser PGL, after having to switch hosts from Stockholm, Sweden to Bucharest, the handling of the event has been criticised.
Despite starting in just a few days, Valve revealed yesterday that it would be refunding ticket sales for spectators, claiming that it could no longer facilitate an audience “in a way that allows us to prioritize the health and well-being of both audience members and participants”, due mainly to a surge in COVID cases in Romania.
Team Spirit’s exposing of its playing conditions – for a tournament that boasts the largest prize pool in esports history at $40 million – will also likely be met with disappointment.
Both Valve and PGL have been contacted for comment regarding Team Spirit’s video.
