Valve and Perfect World bans Chinese Dota 2 pro players for unfair play

Dota 2

May 19, 2025

Marcus Wong

Valve and its Chinese partner, Perfect World, have delivered yet another ban wave onto Dota 2 pro players for “unfair play,” AKA match-fixing. This time around, it’s twelve Chinese Dota 2 pro players.

Li “xiaoyu” Qianyu among the 12 banned Dota 2 players (Image credit: ESL)

Valve and Perfect World Ban 12 Dota 2 Pros in China

This decision was the result of an internal investigation by the two organizations, which ultimately concluded the presence of match-fixing in these players’ pro games. This list includes Dota 2 players who received lifetime ban:

Lu “L’enfer, c’est les autres” Yubin
Chen “Small.Kk” Zhichao
Liew “Eren” Jun Ji
Hu “Molasses” Jiaxing
Li “xiaoyu” Qianyu

Meanwhile these players received a two-year sanction from Dota 2 tournaments:

Zhu “V” Lianfa
Feng “Killa” Bonian
Li “RanFuDao” Xinyuan
Liu “Manic” Junhui
Wang “marblue” Heng
Yu “Tz.” Chengwei
Wan “59” Tao

A Malaysian’s Life of Crime

While these players are first-time offenders, that is not the case for xiaoyu, who has formerly served a two-year ban during the 46-player ban in 2023. After his sanction ended, xiaoyu returned to the pro scene. However, with this second offence, he ultimately received a lifetime ban from participating in any Dota 2 tournaments.

Dota 2 announces list of 12 banned Dota 2 Chinese players (Image credit: Dota 2 on Weibo)

What is happening to the Chinese Dota 2 Esports scene?

China’s Esports scene has been on a decline in recent years, evident from the lack of strong representatives and new blood in global tournaments. The region, once pride for having a vigorous yet sustainable amateur scene and semi-pro leagues, has also reduced. Hence, it has become unsustainable for amateurs and even semi-pro players to fund their gaming career financially.

Moreover, the offer to match-fix over unscrupulous amount of money is very enticing for these players, who often don’t earn from big prize pools. While many Dota 2 fans argue that an incident like this does not impact the region’s Esports scene since these players are unrecognized amateurs, this cannot be far from the truth.

A blow like this is detrimental to the tier-2 scene, such that we will see even less support for tournaments in this bracket. As popularity and viewership declines, so does organizers considering to host such tournaments in the future. Note that every pro player has its roots in amateur scene before they become renowned. For instance, two-time TI Champion, Anathan “ana” Pham, started his Dota 2 pro career in a Chinese in-house league.