Due to the controversies surrounding Games of the Future, the team led by three legendary OG players will back out of the tournament.
Two-time The International (TI) champion Sébastien "Ceb" Debs confirmed on X that his team, Monkey Business, will not compete in the upcoming Games of the Future 2025 event after hearing about negative reactions online.
Concerns that reached Ceb all stem from the tournament’s affiliation with the Russian government, which has faced international scrutiny for years due to its invasion of Ukraine. The ex-OG offlaner explained that he and his team will not involve themselves in any event that becomes “too politicized,” despite all the hurtful comments they’ve seen.
Monkey Business’ withdrawal from Games of the Future 2025
The announcement of Monkey Business, a roster made up of retired players who made their names in the Dota 2 scene years ago, initially drew plenty of attention from fans eager to see some of the old-time greats play again.
Apart from Ceb, also included in the lineup are his former teammates Johan "N0tail" Sundstein and Topias "Topson" Taavitsainen, as well as the Swedish streamer Janne "Gorgc" Stefanovski and former Team Secret and Cloud 9 support Johan "pieliedie" Åström.
On the same day Monkey Business revealed its lineup, a Reddit post from Ghostik, an ex-Dota 2 pro player, quickly surfaced, calling out the former OG players and questioning whether it was “worth it to take blood money and become part of Russian propaganda.”
Ceb later responded on X that his team will take immediate action regarding the matter, and on Dec. 9, he finally publicized their decision of withdrawing from the tournament.
Games of the Future first drew flak from the Dota 2 community in 2024 after it became known as a Russian-sponsored event, with some of its partners also having deep connections to the Russian government. The president of Russia himself, Vladimir Putin, attended Games of the Future 2024’s opening ceremony, together with several top officials from Belarus, Tajikistan, Uzbekistan, and Kazakhstan.
Games of the Future Dota 2 start date
The tournament has not yet announced which team will replace Monkey Business. Vikings, one of the remaining teams in the event, lost two of its players following the individual exits of Max "qojqva" Bröcker and Niklas "Wagamama" Högström.
The first matches of Games of the Future 2025 is scheduled for Dec. 14 in Abu Dhabi and will still feature various retired and inactive Dota 2 pro players, such as Aliwi "w33" Omar, Ivan "MinD_ContRoL" Ivanov, Jonathan "Loda" Berg, Xu "BurNIng" Zhilei, and more.
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