The live event of this year’s Dota 2 The International tournament has been cancelled due to COVID-19. Tickets purchased will be refunded and the event will be held online.

Valve has decided to cancel the face-to-face event of Dota 2’s The International 2021 tournament due to the increasing number of COVID-19 cases in Romania. Valve will host a digital event instead of a face-to-face event.

Valve said in a blog post that viewers who bought tickets to attend the event in person would be refunded.

“We have carefully monitored the increases in COVID-19 cases in Romania and the new local restrictions in Bucharest resulting from this increase. We have decided to refund all Tickets for The International 2021 to avoid compromising the safety of our event’s players, announcers and other production employees.

Nothing would make us happier than the fans attending this event, but unfortunately we can’t do it without sacrificing the health of the audience and the participants. Purchased tickets will be refunded automatically.

The International will start on October 7 as planned and we look forward to seeing you all in this arena where the best Dota teams in the world will compete and share this experience online with millions of fans around the world.”

Assuming everything is still going “as planned”, The International 10 – Dota 2 Championship Group Stage will start on October 7-10, and the Main Stage will begin on October 12th. On October 17, the top two Dota 2 teams will face Aegis for their share of the $40,018,195 prize pool.