ESL Reveals 2025 Dota 2 Calendar
ESL has revealed the dates and structure of its 2025 Dota 2 ESL Pro Tour season as it looks to occupy the bulk of an increasingly busy professional Dota schedule. The dates were revealed on May 14 across social media.
Fans familiar with this year’s schedule will find the format almost identical, barring a few date changes. The Dota 2 tournaments schedule for 2025 kicks off in February with DreamLeague Season 25, leading into ESL One Europe in April, likely a placeholder title until the location is announced.
Another edition of DreamLeague will follow in May, and then a long break from June to November to accommodate the Riyadh Masters and Esports World Cup, as well as The International.
Finally the year will wrap up with DreamLeague Season 27 in November, and ESL One Asia, again likely a placeholder name, in December. The full schedule is detailed below:
- DreamLeague S25 – Feb 16 to March 2
- ESL One Europe – April
- DreamLeague S26 – May 12 to May 25
- DreamLeague S27 – Nov. 3 to Nov. 9
- ESL One Asia – December
With the announcement, this is first time in recent memory, perhaps ever, where we’ve had a full picture of a Dota 2 season, or at least a year of events, ahead of time. Valve’s Dota 2 Pro Circuit (DPC) worked on a nebulous schedule throughout its entire existence. This was further compounded by the disruption caused in 2020 and 2021 by COVID-19, and the change of format to online leagues after this.
Following the dissolution of the DPC, tournament operators like ESL FACEIT Group, PGL, and most recently, BLAST have stepped up with a series of Dota 2 tournaments.
Now, ironically, the only uncertainty in the Dota 2 esports calendar comes from the biggest events – from Valve, who must set the date of The International, and the Esports World Cup and their Riyadh Masters tournament. This is the case both this year, and next, where we don’t have solid dates or timelines for the most significant Dota 2 esports events of the year.
Still, this is the most structured Dota 2 esports has ever been, with major tournaments filling almost every single month of the calendar.
ESL FACEIT Group is a part of Savvy Games Group, a subsidiary of Saudi Arabia’s sovereign wealth fund, the PIF, and is the largest esports tournament operator in the world. Their ESL Pro Tour series of Dota 2 events form part of a qualifying structure for Riyadh Masters, part of the Esports World Cup.
ESL’s next Dota 2 event, DreamLeague Season 23, kicks off on May 20.
