Dota 2 confirmed for Esports World Cup 2027
Valve's MOBA will feature for the fourth straight year at the summer event, where no club or player has yet won twice.
The Esports Foundation has confirmed Dota 2 will be part of the Esports World Cup (EWC) lineup for the fourth consecutive year in 2027.
The tournament is scheduled to run from July to August 2027.
Evgeniy "Noticed" Ignatenko was named the Sony MVP of the 2026 tournament.
"Evgeniy 'Noticed' Ignatenko was named SONY MVP for his performance during the tournament, playing an instrumental role in the team's run throughout the two-week competition," the Esports Foundation said in a release.
Which teams have won Dota 2 at the Esports World Cup?
Three different clubs, each with a different roster, have won the Dota 2 title in the three EWC years held so far.
No club or player has won the tournament twice.
PVISION won the 2026 title, finishing as the top seed in the group stage without losing a match.
They drew once, against the 2025 champions Team Spirit.
PVISION beat Rune Eaters and Team Yandex in the playoffs before defeating BB Team 3-1 in the best-of-five grand final.
The winners received $750,000 in prize money.
The release said PVISION found redemption from their semifinals loss in 2025 and stamped their global and regional dominance.
"Despite struggling in the opening game of the best-of-five, PVISION shook off the nerves and delivered three straight dominant games to secure the Dota 2 EWC 2026 trophy 3-1," the release said.
What happened to the 2025 champions?
Team Spirit failed to repeat as EWC champions in 2026.
However, a month later they won The International 2026 in Shanghai.
With that victory, teammates Illya "Yatoro" Mulyarchuk and Magomed "Collapse" Khalilov became the first players to win The International three times, all before the age of 25 and all under the Team Spirit banner.
Team Yandex finished third at both EWC 2026 and The International.
The release says the signing of Ammar "ATF" Al-Assaf, a young Jordanian player from the disbanded Team Falcons roster, has already brought two more trophies: PGL Wallachia Season 9 and BLAST SLAM VIII.
"ATF's arrival has acted as a catalyst, energizing the squad," the release said.
Where are the former Team Falcons players now?
Team Falcons left Dota 2 after entering the scene in November 2023, a move the Esports Foundation called a big surprise to the community.
In that time they made no roster changes and won The International in 2025.
Ammar "ATF" Al-Assaf has joined Team Yandex.
Oliver "skiter" Lepko has joined the Southeast Asian/Ukrainian roster of Aurora Gaming.
Team Liquid secured Stanislav "Malr1ne" Potorak from the former Falcons team, just a month after signing Bolivian veteran Adrián "Wisper" Dobles.
Jingjun "Sneyking" Wu has joined a brand new LGD Gaming roster formed just last month, and one that features the youngest ever TI winner, Sumail "SumaiL" Hassan.
Andreas "Cr1t-" Nielsen announced he'd be taking an indefinite break from competing.
Why is Dota 2's inclusion significant for 2027?
With only seven Tier 1 tournaments scheduled for 2027 excluding the EWC, and some organizations having paused their involvement in the discipline, the tournament becomes one of the key events of the year.
Participation also incentivizes organizations to field rosters to compete for Club Championship points and a significant prize pool, which amounted to $2 million in 2026.
The Esports World Cup is an annual event that pits top esports clubs against one another in a cross-game format.
The organizers call its prize pool the largest in esports history.
"The competition features a unique cross-game format that pits the world's top esports Clubs against one another for the largest prize pool in esports history," the foundation said.
The MOBA genre holds an important place in the Esports World Cup portfolio.
Thanks to a multi-year deal with Riot Games, League of Legends is also expected to be featured at the tournament, although there has been no official confirmation yet.
Additionally, the Esports Foundation previously announced FATAL FURY: City of the Wolves as the first fighting game for EWC 2027.
Redington Cybersport reported in October that ESL One Munich 2027 was announced with a $1 million prize pool.
