The International could be held outside of the US if travel restrictions remain in place

Valve head honcho Gabe Newell has suggested that his company may be forced to hold The International outside of the US if travel restrictions get any worse.

When speaking to Polygon, Newell said that if restrictions on who can enter the US get any worse the company may be forced to hold its annual competition elsewhere, despite it being in Seattle for the last five years. 

We have already seen issues with visas for The International, with Valve being forced to rope in senior politicians to help some players get into the competition. However sometimes that isn’t enough and occasionally teams have had to play with a stand in at the biggest event of the year. 

The current ban on travelers from certain countries, which is technically not being enforced right now, could have a major impact on many teams as Dota has a surprisingly large amount of players that are a citizen of the affected countries.