ONE Esports' Dota 2 World Pro Invitational set to take stage at Singapore Indoor Stadium

ONE Championship is taking the rumble beyond the octagon ring and into the digital arena with its latest endeavour — the launch of Asia's biggest esports world championship series.

Known more for its mixed martial arts, Muay Thai, and kickboxing tournaments, ONE Championship really wants to wrestle its way into the highly lucrative esports scene, and it shows. Last November, the Singapore-based organisation announced a partnership with Japanese advertising agency Dentsu in an esports and competitive gaming venture: ONE Esports. 

So, channel your inner Pudge and head into the lanes with the Dota 2 World Pro Invitational, which is set to take place across two separate legs — one in Singapore and one in Jakarta.

In collaboration with tournament organiser PGL, the ONE Dota 2 Singapore World Pro Invitational will kick off at the Singapore Indoor Stadium from Dec 20 to 22 this year, followed by the next one on April 17 to 19, 2020 in Jakarta, Indonesia.

[[nid:456812]]

The invitational will see twelve teams from across the globe compete, with a sizeable prize pool of US$500,000 (S$690,000) on the line for each event. While the esports world championship series will eventually incorporate more titles beyond Dota 2, the upcoming series should prove to be major esports exhibitions for the region and any participating team.

"ONE Championship is committed to bringing its same brand of large-scale event production and live broadcast capabilities, unique world-class content production, global media distribution, storytelling expertise, and marketing experience to ONE Esports," said Chatri Sityodtong, Chairman and CEO of ONE Championship. 

"With ONE Esports, ONE Championship is without a doubt Asia's largest producer of millennial sports content."

Details on the line-up of Dota 2 teams as well as the rest of the events for 2019-2020 season across additional game titles aren't available yet.

Either way, Dota 2 fans will get to enjoy something much closer to home after The International in Shanghai later this month. 

mabelkhoo@asiaone.com