EPICENTER: Moscow eSports tournament deemed the best sporting event of 2016.
Russia’s largest eSports event, the EPICENTER: Moscow Dota 2 tournament held in May 2016, has won the grand prize at the leading Event of the Year professional event industry awards, in the Sporting Event of the Year category.
The annual national Event of the Year awards are key professional honors in Russia’s event industry, established by Zhanna Vasenina, editor-in-chief at Event.ru, and renowned film producer Alexander Izotov. The Expert Council for the Awards includes representatives of major event-commissioning companies, distinguished arts and culture figures, media celebrities, and acclaimed gurus of the entertainment and mass events industry. 2017 saw the Awards held for the fifth time, honoring 32 major events in Russia, including the EPICENTER: Moscow finals, which took place on May 12–15, 2016, at Moscow’s Crocus City Hall. Eight teams from the world’s most famous organizations competed in one of the most spectacularly dramatic and unpredictable eSports disciplines, Dota 2.
This was not the first trophy EPICENTER: Moscow received. In 2016, the tournament got the leading international EuBEA Award for the best event in Europe in the Live Entertainment industry. EuBEA are the main honors in the European event industry. A total of 1,000 applications for the awards had been entered in 21 nominations, with 114 events shortlisted.
In June 2017, EPICENTER: Moscow will be held for the third time. The group stage of the tournament is scheduled for June 4–7. The finals of the Dota 2 competition will take place on June 9–11 at the VTB Ice Palace sports arena, where crowds will witness a grandiose showdown between the world’s strongest eSports clubs. Qualifiers will be held in Europe, the CIS, America, China, and other regions in May, with the winners advancing to the final battle in Moscow. A total of ten of the world’s best teams will compete for the cup and the $500,000 prize pool. Tickets to the EPICENTER: Moscow finals will go on sale in April.