The final submission deadlines for The International 2020 has been extended by one week to May 3, 2020. It was previously scheduled to be on April 27th and the extension was announced today.
The International Collector’s Cache is an in-game treasure for Dota 2 that accompanies each year’s Battle Pass. They contain exclusive in-game cosmetics for heroes which cannot be traded or marketed. The contents of the Collector’s Cache are made by Dota 2 players themselves, which go through a voting process in the workshop and are finally hand-picked by Valve themselves to be included in the game.
Both the 2018 and 2019 Battle Passes had included not one but two Collector’s Caches each, both consisting of exclusive community-made items for the Dota 2 heroes. The Collector’s Cache contents are primarily set on a theme for each year’s Battle Pass itself.
The postponing of the submission deadlines implies that artists will now have even more time to refine their work, or to simply create more submissions for the event. Players of the game too, will have more time to decide and vote for which skin they want to have in-game.
But can it further imply something more?
Yes, The International Battle Pass 2020 is likely on the horizon and might be released soon.
During the COVID-19 pandemic, The International 2020 was more than likely to be delayed. The current worldwide lockdown means that Valve might be working with fewer employees and that too, not in an office environment. The result would be an inevitable delay in giving the finishing touches to the Battle Pass, which is understandable at a time like this.
But the real question is however, why one week? Valve should have a very good idea on when the Battle Pass 2020 will be ready for launch, and if the date was far away the submission deadlines for the Collector’s Cache would also see a greater extension to provide even more room for artists to submit more skins to the workshop, making the Collector’s Caches more attractive to buyers with better skins.
The extension of the submission deadline by only seven days heavily implies only a small delay in the Battle Pass release. Fans of the game can expect to see the Battle Pass release in near future, if not today.
