Perfect World apologises for Shanghai Major mess

Shanghai Major Logo

Despite the high-level Dota on display, the Shanghai Major is remembered as the hottest mess—volcanic, even. Chris detailed what went wrong in a post worthy of its own leather-bound tome, but the highlights include starving talent, a manager trapped in a lift, a missing keyboard and the audience being ordered to vacate the premises. The drama peaked with the sacking of the event's production company.

Perfect World, Dota's publisher in China, has now issued an apology. From the Chinese Dota 2 site:

Dear DOTA2 Players and Fans,

We deeply regret that a series of mistakes caused a multitude of problems at the Shanghai Major. As the organizer of the event, we must take full responsibility. We sincerely apologize for the disappointment and pain that you experienced.

We have started a full scope investigation and have taken corrective actions, starting with making changes to internal Perfect World personnel. We would ask for forgiveness from all of the DOTA2 fans and players, and hope to rebuild the trust that we have damaged.

Best Regards,

Yunfan Zhang

President
Perfect World

For all the heavy-handed talk of firing people, I'd say we're safe in assuming that slip-ups of this magnitude are unlikely to happen again. With a lucrative brand to protect and a stake in the future of esports, I foresee Valve getting its hands dirty at events more often.

Latest in MOBA
League of Legends promo image - huge dude in a huge suit of armor holding a huge axe
Riot walks back unpopular League of Legends changes: Hextech Chests are coming back, and the Blue Essence cost for new champions will be cut in half
A triptych of views from Deadlock's improved map, showing a suspension bridge backlit by a setting sun, a triumphal arch with buildings in the background, and a leafy park overlooked by distant skyscrapers.
Deadlock gets a massive map overhaul that shrinks its map from four lanes to three: 'This has a large range of accompanying map-wide changes'
Three monsters holding clubs in Dota 2.
As a lapsed 4,500 hour veteran of Dota 2, the big new Wandering Waters update has lured me back—but despite the changes, the game still feels stuck in its ways
Sahn-Uzal Mordekaiser revealed in silhouette against a white moon and a blood-red sky.
League of Legends is getting a hotly anticipated skin for its lich necromancer Mordekaiser, but fans' joy has been 'obliterated' because it's 'stuck in a $200 fomo gacha store'
Smite 2 art
Hi-Rez will only be giving 'minor updates' to Smite and Paladins now it's laying off around 70 employees, but don't worry, Smite 2 is the 'primary focus of the newly streamlined operations'
LoL summoner art
It's high time League of Legends got full voice chat
Latest in News
assassin's creed shadow naoe
We asked two parkour athletes to rate the realism of Assassin's Creed's acrobatics, and a surprising 'crime against parkour' might actually be one of the most realistic things they saw
Mechs fight on the outside of a spaceship
MechWarrior 5: Clans is getting DLC with playable Elementals and a fight on the outside of a spaceship
Aloy - Horizon
'I feel worried about this art form:' Unsurprisingly, the real Aloy from Horizon isn't a fan of AI Aloy
Crying laughing emoji with disturbing realistic elements for REPO
REPO's first update will add a new map and a 'duck bucket' so we can finally give that pesky quacker a time out
Man facing camera
The Day Before studio reportedly sues Russian website for calling infamous disaster-game a 'scam'
Will Poulter holding a CD ROM
'What are most games about? Killing': Black Mirror Season 7 includes a follow-up to 2018 interactive film Bandersnatch