Dota 2 tournament in shambles as players could hear the commentators during the match

PROFESSIONAL Dota 2 esports teams have made formal complaints after “unfair advantages” we’re given during The International 2022.

Team Fnatic were eliminated early in the competition and have now filed a report against the tournament as players were able to hear the commentators during matches.

This meant that teams were able to hear commentators talking about what each team was doing and what plays they may have been attempting.

Players who were paying attention to the commentary could then create a counter-play to their opponents’ strategy.

The International 2022 was held this year in Singapore, and the stage design is apparently to blame for the fumble.

Originally in Russian, an interview with one player, Anton “Dyrachyo” Shkredov, revealed exactly what was going on.

As translated on Reddit, he explained: “Scary thing is that you hear absolutely everything. Everything that the casters say.

“You hear every smoke, every rune.”

When asked to clarify, he explains that he could hear the casters — the esports term for commentators — call out each team’s play.

Last year in Stockholm, he explained that you couldn’t hear the casters as teams were wearing noise-cancelling headphones that prevented the commentary from being heard.

While not sure what headphones were used in Singapore, Dyrachyo explains that the commentators could be heard clearly.

However, not all teams could take advantage of this mistake, and many teams were in fact disadvantaged by it.

PSG.LGD team member Zhao “XinQ” Zixing from China reported that while his team could hear the commentary, none of them could understand it as they don’t speak English.

This meant that non-English speaking teams had to play the game through the distracting English commentary.

Fnatic co-owner Patrik Sättermon wrote: “As a former player, I am very frustrated that such integrity issues are still not prevented, especially on the absolute biggest stage of the sport. 

“Our intention is solely to raise awareness about something that can be as game breaking as dream crushing for the athletes.”

Written by Georgina Young on behalf of GLHF.