The announcement that Tunda Esports was to leave Dota 2, a game in which it had become one of most prominent names, was a shock to many fans. But the logistics behind that exit may speak to an even bigger shock coming to Dota 2 esports as a whole.
The news of Tundra’s departure came straight from the source when the esports organization announced that it would be leaving Dota 2 after six years spent fielding competitive rosters in the game.
That six-year history has included some tremendous triumphs, most notably a championship victory at The International in 2022 when Tundra defeated Team Secret in the final with a 3-0 sweep.
But Tundra’s success was far from limited to lifting the Aegis in 2022. The team lifted several trophies in 2025, and already in 2026 Tundra Esports had claimed victory at both DreamLeague Season 28 and ESL One Birmingham. The latter win came fewer than three months before this latest announcement that Tundra would be leaving competitive Dota 2.
So how is it that such a successful team could find itself unable to even continue competing?
Tundra leaving Dota 2 speaks to difficulties sustaining Dota 2 esports
Tundra being forced to depart Dota 2 esports despite its successes, both historical and more recent, speaks directly to what makes the game’s esports scene difficult to sustain for many organizations.
Player salaries vary between organizations, teams, and individual players, but top teams are known to pay healthy six-figure salaries to each member of their squads. Meeting those expenses can prove difficult, even when a side wins tournaments and takes in the related prize money. And most teams aren’t able to do that on a consistent basis.
Alexandr “sweetypotz” Shcherbakov, who had served in a directing role for Tundra, put out a public statement on Telegram speaking to this very issue. He called supporting a top Dota 2 team’s budget “practically impossible,” while also citing changing laws around gambling and taxes as being significant contributors.
The changing laws he cited were specifically concerning legislation in Russia that saw the creation of a 25% corporate profit tax on gambling companies. And with gambling companies now playing such an outsized role in esports sponsorship and financial support, this has been seen as a major blow to many esports organizations, and indeed to some games.
sweetypotz claimed to have spent months shopping the Tundra Dota 2 roster to other esports organizations without success. The players were eventually picked up by 1w Team, which features betting platform 1win as its title sponsor.
The new 1win Dota 2 roster:
- Pure
- bzm
- 33
- Ari
- Whitemon
As qualification for The International is rooted in playing rosters rather than the esports organizations they represent, these players will remain qualified for this year’s TI event under the new 1w banner.
Dota 2 esports may face further difficulties after The International 2026
The slow goings in trying to shop such a successful roster around may speak to further difficulties in the near future for Dota 2 esports.
Rumors have persisted that more esports organizations are considering pulling support from the game following the conclusion of The International in 2026, which is scheduled for October 13-23 and is this year to be held in Shanghai, China.
Esports organizations leaving Dota 2 following TI, which has itself gone through changes over the years, isn’t necessarily anything new. But the difficulty that was apparently had in moving a roster as successful as Tundra’s to a new home speaks to how the teams left without organizations in the wake of this year’s post-TI shuffle could have that much more difficult a time finding new names to play for.
