MANILA--The effect of Valve's statement erasing Galaxy Battles 2 from the 2018 Majors list has reached Russia.
Russian e-sports quintet Virtus Pro announced that it is not anymore participating in the Jan. 15-21 event at the Philippine Arena in Bocaue following the decision of Valve to strip the said tournament of Major status.
[Related Story: Galaxy Battles stripped of major tournament status]
"Considering yesterday's Valve's resolution regarding Galaxy Battles II official DOTA Pro Circuit championship status withdrawal, we have made the decision of declining the tournament's invitation," General Manager Roman Dvoryankin said in a statement on Friday night.
VP was among the eight teams directly invited to Galaxy Battles.
[Related Story: TI7 champ Liquid leads late Galaxy Battles direct invites; Secret headlines regional qualifiers]
Dvoryankin then expressed his gratitude to Valve, saying, "I wish to thank Valve's management for effective addressing of the problem and excellent communication with participant teams. The said status, among all things, imposes additional standards of players' safety, event's technical security and logistics on the event's organizers."
With the said development, the number of teams confirmed for the tournament are now down to 13.
Follow him on Twitter: @IvanSaldajeno
VP was among the eight teams directly invited to Galaxy Battles.
[Related Story: TI7 champ Liquid leads late Galaxy Battles direct invites; Secret headlines regional qualifiers]
Dvoryankin then expressed his gratitude to Valve, saying, "I wish to thank Valve's management for effective addressing of the problem and excellent communication with participant teams. The said status, among all things, imposes additional standards of players' safety, event's technical security and logistics on the event's organizers."
With the said development, the number of teams confirmed for the tournament are now down to 13.
Follow him on Twitter: @IvanSaldajeno