Valve Tells DOTA 2 Pro Teams to Avoid Sponsorships from Gambling Sites

Valve recently told various professional DOTA 2 teams to not accept sponsorships from gambling sites from this point onward. They also said that already existing contracts would be discussed later on.

The company made the request at a meeting during the International 2018 competition. When some of the managers brought up the existing sponsorships, Valve told them it would be discussed at a later time.

This isn't the first time Valve has taken a stand against gambling content pertaining to their games. A few years ago, the company took disciplinary action against multiple professional CS: GO players for fixing matches in favor for betting sites. This was due to Valve's established anti-gambling policy, which stated that players, managers, nor staff may "deliver information to others that might influence their CS: GO bets."

According to Valve, professionals associating with gambling sites is "a direct conflict of interest with the League and the guidelines set forth by Valve." Before now, any such sponsorships could not be visually promoted as a result.

While freedom in professional endeavors is usually a good thing, this was a good decision by Valve. It's important to diminish the opportunity for corruption in the eSports industry before it grows too large and too deeply engraved.