Valve has announced it will be cracking down on in-game advertisements during The International 2024 (TI13) in a new blog post.
Detailed on Aug. 28, Valve stated on the official Dota 2 website that the company won’t have “advertisements and sponsorships in-game at The International, including in team banners, base logos, and tags in player names.”
The move appears to be targeted at an ever increasing number of betting and other sponsors used in clan tags, base logos, and player names. Sponsors will often pay teams to include their name in these in-game elements, effectively advertising for the entirety of the match. For example, Team Spirit displayed the BetBoom logo on their Team Banner and in several of their clan tags during FISSURE Universe: Episode 3.
However, Valve has put its foot down, seemingly banning outright the use of advertisements in these features.
The announcement seems interestingly timed – what with the absence of Team Supporter Packs from the game at the moment. When The International 2024 Compendium was announced, the absence of Supporter Packs was noted, although that was put down to the usual ‘Valve time’ delays we often see.
Now, perhaps another reason for the lack of Supporter Packs can be garnered – Valve simply didn’t like their use as one way of promoting and highlighting team’s sponsors in Dota 2. Although, the packs often only included team and player content.
The removal of in-game advertisements is understandable: Valve can’t police sponsors it’s not affiliated with, but as a tournament organizer for The International, any brands featured may appear to be endorsed or promoted by Valve just by appearing at the tournament. In the case of past years, gambling, alcohol, and cryptocurrency sponsors have all appeared during TI broadcasts by virtue of being on team’s promotional materials. For TI13, Valve wants a tournament with no in-game advertisements.
However, for teams, this lack of an avenue for sponsors to be seen won’t be well received. Sponsorship often makes up a huge chunk of a team’s ‘war chest,’ as it were – Especially for a team traveling to a huge tournament like The International. Doubtless team marketing and sponsorship managers will be having a busy few weeks as they try and find ways to otherwise give their partners exposure outside of the the game of Dota.
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