Purge: “I don’t think competitive Dota 2 will die anytime soon.”
Analyst Kevin “Purge” Godek shared his thoughts on the future of the professional Dota 2 scene and commented on “The Dark Carnival” in an interview with Hotspawn.
On how the analyst’s job has become easier amid an increase in team mistakes
I suppose this makes analysis more naturally exciting. When new teams emerge, it gets even more fun. But I still think this tournament wasn’t predictable—six teams, or maybe even eight, were in the running for the title. So it was interesting to see many of them get eliminated earlier than expected. It’s nice to see teams making a comeback and Vici Gaming performing better than expected. Things like that are just interesting.
On My Career and the Future of Dota 2
I don’t want to push out other people who, in my opinion, deserve it more than I do. Maybe this is all just unnecessary self-criticism, but that’s how I feel. Since my career is pretty much stagnant or not really moving forward, I’m certainly thinking more and more about eventually switching to something else. But at the same time, it’s still profitable, and I still care about it, and I really love doing it. So I don’t plan on doing that anytime soon.
I remember sitting in a hotel lobby with Puppey and maybe someone else, and we asked each other, “How long do you think this Dota esports scene will last?” And we answered, “Five years. At most.” That was in 2012. So we come back to this question every year. I don’t think Dota 2 esports is going to die anytime soon. The only question is whether I’ll be able to stay involved to the extent that suits me and still makes financial sense. For now, the answer is obviously “yes,” but someday that will probably change.
On My Popularity
It’s not particularly [difficult because of my popularity]. At a Dota 2 tournament, I’m like an A-list star—almost everyone recognizes me, at least 75% of the people. Sometimes it was inconvenient—for example, when I needed to walk from one end of the arena to the other, people would stop me, a line would form, and it took a long time.
The only time it really got to me was probably at The International 2016, because that was the first year I did the “weather forecast” segments. I worked all day long and interacted with fans practically the entire day—12-hour workdays, six days in a row. It wore me out a bit. But in everyday life, people almost never recognize me. Maybe just once or twice a year. That’s the perfect amount.
On “The Dark Carnival”
I like “The Dark Carnival.” I’m happy with what Valve has been doing for the past year and a half. There’s criticism that there wasn’t enough content, and that’s fair. But I think encouraging people to play the game is the right approach. The fact that TI battle passes and prize pools have gotten smaller is very bad for professional players, because the prize money isn’t as huge anymore.
The teams ranked 10th through 20th in the standings are suffering the most. The top teams, up to 8th place, generally have fairly high salaries. So as long as the game remains popular and Valve continues to create content that encourages people to play Dota 2, that’s what matters most right now.
On My Favorite Patch
When aspects first appeared, I was really intrigued—they offered a lot of interesting choices. I don’t know if it was my favorite patch, but that’s the most obvious answer. Unfortunately, over time, people “figured it all out”—it became clear which aspect was better, and that was disappointing. But it was fun at first.
Earlier, commentator Vladimir “Maelstorm” Kuzminov spoke out on the topic of Dota 2’s “death.” “If everything stays the way it is, then we’ll just have to make do—we’re used to it. From Int to Int, thanks for not canceling it,” the caster wrote.
Photo: Valve.
