Dota 2 pros speculate about Xtreme Gaming’s buyout amount for Ame

Much like classic sports, Dota 2 Esports occasionally practices buyout contracts or transfer fees too, albeit for very talented players only. Yet, Wang “Ame” Chunyu stands out as a notable exception in the current Dota 2 scene, being among the few Chinese professional players whose talent and skill have warranted a contract buyout fee.

This highlights his legendary status even among his peers in the Dota 2 scene.

Speculation on Ame’s Transfer Fee

The topic of Ame’s contract buyout price became a point of interest following discussions around the potential million-dollar buyout for Matthew “Ari” Walker by Team OG. The conversation was further ignited by Dota 2 veterans Lu “Somnus” Yao and Yang “Chalice” Shenyi during the live stream.

They speculated about the transfer fee Xtreme Gaming might have paid to LGD Gaming to secure Ame’s buyout, estimating it to be in the vicinity of half a million dollars. For the unwary, Ame remains benched in LGD Gaming’s line-up, despite being on a hiatus for a year.

This discussion not only sheds light on Ame’s value as a legendary pro player but perhaps more on the competitive Chinese scene’s situation.

Are Dota 2 player buyouts a thing?

The dialogue between Somnus and Chalice also touched upon the declining frequency of buyout trends in the Chinese Dota 2 scene, especially in recent years. Particularly, Chalice once attributed this trend to several factors, including the overall downturn of the competitive scene in China compared to its glory days during the International Championships between 2016 and 2019.

Many observed that the system for nurturing new talent through in-house leagues and leaderboards hasn’t been well-maintained, leading to less support for emerging young players. This lack of support has, in turn, contributed to financial sustainability issues and unfortunate incidences of match-fixing among young players, further challenging the integrity of the Chinese Dota 2 scene.

Chalice also specifically criticized the management by PerfectWorld and Valve for their inadequate response to these systemic issues, suggesting that these factors collectively contribute to the diminishing Dota 2 scene in China. Fast forward to the year 2024, Valve disbanded the Dota Pro Circuit (DPC) for good, leaving the competitive scene up to third-party organizers to run the scene from scratch.

High-profile Dota 2 Player Buyouts

The conversation also broadened to include references to other notable buyouts in the Dota 2 scene, emphasizing that Ame was definitely not the only prodigy whose skills commanded a high buyout value.

For instance, the owner of Team Aurora disclosed that he set the buyout price of $1 million for Nuengnara “23” Teeramahanon when approached by a major organization at the BetBoom Dacha Dubai 2024.

Similarly, a few years prior, Evil Geniuses’ acquisition of Russian prodigy Roman “RAMZES666” Kushnarev for $75K was noteworthy.

Ame’s return to the competitive Dota 2 scene with Xtreme Gaming, alongside former teammate Zhao “XinQ” Zixing, after his year-long hiatus as an inactive member of LGD Gaming, was arguably the most anticipated debut of 2024. Their participation in the BetBoom Dacha Dubai 2024, however, was underwhelming, showing mediocre performance in the group stage. Despite their eventual placement in the 7-8th position following losses to the champions Team Falcons and runner-up Team Liquid, Ame’s return to competitive play was a testament to his timeless skills but also the high expectations placed on his performance.