The organizer of ESL One Birmingham criticized Valve over the situation with patches 7.41 and 7.41a

Alvaro “Avo” Sanchez stated that the release of major patches for Dota 2 creates significant difficulties for tournament organizers.

The Dota 2 Product Manager at ESL Faceit Group made this statement in an interview with Jaxon, commenting on the release of patches 7.41 and 7.41a during the ESL One Birmingham 2026 tournament.

“Oh, it’s just awful. Major patches in the middle of a tournament are pure torture. It’s torture for us. I think people don’t realize how bad it is...”

Acording to Alvaro “Avo” Sanchez, the release of new updates always delights Dota 2 fans; however, when developers release major updates during tournaments, it creates significant difficulties for the entire tournament organizing team, as the technical support team has to make numerous updates and event planing sufers.

“No, I’m a Dota fan; patches in the game are a good thing. I’m thrilled by the very fact that patches are released. The only downside is that I want to play the new patch myself, but I’m forced to watch as other players test it.

However, if you look at it from an organizational standpoint, it’s very difficult for us. I remember that on the day Patch 7.41 was released, I didn’t sleep until 4 or 5 in the morning. I don’t even know if our in-game team slept, since they had so much to update. Most of the tournament planning falls apart the very moment a patch is released.”

Nevertheles, a representative of the tournament operator acknowledged that viewers enjoy major updates being released during championships, as it adds to the event’s spectacle.