ESL has removed the North American region from its rulebooks for the 2026–2027 season

Tournament organizer ESL has updated its tournament rules for the 2026–2027 Dota 2 season

The tournament organizer has removed North America from the list of separate regions for ESL Pro Tour tournaments. The “Rest of World” category is now used for competitions that, due to ping restrictions, cannot reasonably be classified as belonging to one of the main regions. Specifically, this category includes North America, South Africa, Australasia, and South Asia.

ESL has also updated its requirements for team branding: if laws, platform rules, or other restrictions prohibit the use of a team’s name, logo, or branding—including those related to gambling—the team must provide an alternative option for use during the tournament. Such branding must be clearly distinguishable from the original and must not imitate the prohibited branding; its use requires ESL’s approval. Furthermore, the alternative option cannot be used for temporary rebranding on the team’s website, social media, products, services, or other public materials.

ESL previously announced the Dota 2 tournament schedule for the new season, which will include three DreamLeague tournaments and the ESL One Europe LAN tournament. The organizers also announced a 25–50% reduction in DreamLeague prize pools and the return of the second division.

Photo by Adela Sznajder, ESL.