Games of the Future 2025 was shaping up to be one of the most entertaining off-season events for Dota 2 fans, offering a nostalgic hit as fans could watch legendary figures return for one last ride. But things have taken a turn as the event draws closer.
Though this tournament looked like a harmless celebration of Dota’s past, there is now growing scrutiny. Ex-pros and the community have raised concerns about the showmatch’s Russian backing, prompting participants to rethink whether they should attend.
Nostalgic Showmatch Comes With Complications
On paper, Games of the Future 2025 is every Dota fan’s dream. This $175,000 event features eight teams comprising TI champions, old-school stars, and popular streamers, competing in a six-day LAN tournament in Abu Dhabi.
Here, rosters like the The International 3 Alliance lineup, Chinese legends from a decade ago, and even an OG reunion featuring Sébastien “Ceb” Debs, Topias “Topson” Taavitsainen, Johan “N0tail” Sundstein, and streamer Janne “Gorgc” Stefanovski on the same team.
But, the event is part of a larger project that is heavily backed by the Russian Government. Last year’s Games of the Future even featured a guest appearance by Vladimir Putin during the opening ceremony. Given the tensions from the Russia-Ukraine war, this naturally raised eyebrows across the esports world.
Russian Backing and Political Concerns
Games of the Future may just appear like your average esports off-season tournament, but the project’s origins make it a little trickier. The event was originally created and funded by the Russian government.
The first tournament in 2024 was organized by Russia’s Ministry of Sport and utilized a substantial government budget to launch a new “phygital sports” concept, which combines esports with real-world athletic games.
This Russian connection became unmistakable when Vladimir Putin appeared at the 2024 opening ceremony alongside leaders of Kazakhstan, Tajikistan, Uzbekistan, and Belarus, all of whom are Russian allies. This isn’t something that normally happens at gaming events.
Although the 2025 edition is being relocated to Abu Dhabi with new organizers, many community members still associate the project with its Russian origins.
Former Ukrainian Pro Ghostik Speaks Out
The first major wave of criticism came from former Ukrainian pro Andrii “Ghostik” Kadyk. He made a post on Reddit calling out participants for accepting invites to the event, given its Russian ties.
Ghostik ignited a heated debate, calling out players like Topson, Ceb, and N0tail and questioning whether it is “really worth taking that bloody money and becoming part of Russian propaganda by attending this event?”
Several commenters on the thread also noted Wehsing “SingSing” Yuen, a popular Dota 2 streamer, was also invited to the event. However, he refused due to his support for Ukraine.
Ceb Team Pulls Out
The controversy gained even more traction after OG legend and two-time TI winner Ceb tweeted on X, saying he is reconsidering attending. Not long after, he confirmed that he and his team had decided to withdraw from the event.
“After considering new information that was not known at the time of acceptance, we have decided to withdraw from the event.
When an event becomes too politicized, for any reason, we prefer not to take part,” he said. “We believe we should have the right to stay outside of these political matters and keep our focus on our passion and esports.”
His team at the event includes some of the biggest personalities and streamers in the scene – we’re talking about Topson and Gorgc, two of the most popular English streamers currently. The withdrawal deals a major blow to the tournament’s appeal, and could also trigger other participants to pull out, too.
The community itself is split – many fans simply want to watch their childhood heroes play Dota again, asking for politics to be left out. Meanwhile, others advise iconic figures not to lend their presence to what they view as Russian propaganda.