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Kips, who recently revealed details of the SA DPC EN caster strike, talked with esports.gg about the strike and its ramifications.
One controversial element of Tour 3 of the 2023 DPC has been the wildly differing quality of each region’s broadcast. While Western Europe is fully remote, with bedroom casts and virtual studios, China has a full physical studio setup, seemingly to hail the arrival ofSumaiLto the region.
Worst of all though, South America recently saw the sharp decline in the quality of its English cast as its talent went on strike, throwing the gauntlet at the feet of BTS Brazil.
We reached out to Kips and she was kind enough to answer some questions about the SA DPC caster strike, the circumstances behind it, and what viewers and fans can do to help.
Kips talks South American DPC’s issues and reasons behind the caster strike
Every region has elements who want to push for low rates and shoestring budgets, why do you think it’s worse in SA?
Murielle “Kips” Huisman:“I can’t speak about ESB because I don’t have any first-hand or (as of yet) second-hand knowledge of what goes down there. I can tell you a lot about the problems with BTS Brazil, though. They have done everything in their power to monopolize the Portuguese-language Dota 2 broadcast scene, up to offering their services for free. None of the competition survived to this day. This means that BTS Brazil is the only company you’re able to work for if you want to make a living casting Dota 2 in Portuguese, and BTS Brazil abuses this by paying their talent bottom-tier rates, jerking them around, and ostracizing anyone who dares to protest.
And protestshavehappened before; Astini [Filipe Astini] and Aedrons [João Hugo Carvalho], both hugely popular in the Brazilian Dota 2 scene,have blown the lid off the entire thing beforebut were mostly ignored.”
“So cut to the present day, where ESB hands BTS Brazil the broadcast rights after EPL screws the pooch. I think the studio didn’t really see their own flaws. They had never been punished for their shady business practices, had never been forced to properly compete, and therefore apparently saw no problems with continuing to operate the exact same way in this new global environment."
Why strike now? And not during Tour 1, or at any other point?
“We were paid less than we’d be for third party tournaments, treated as disposable, and were expected to be grateful for the opportunity.”
So uh, yeah. Clearly the free market promoted the survival of the fittest.”
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What would end the strike?
What’s the end game of this? If BTS Brazil came to the table with an offer to end the caster strike what would you want to see?
Kips:“Here’s list of our (extremely reasonable) strike demands, which we sent to BTS Brazil two days before we went public with the strike, here:
The pay increase and parity are at the heart of our demands. If the PT talent are fluent enough to do the EN-language job (which the top-notch analysts I worked with definitely were!) they deserve the same compensation. And if we all get the same wages, there is no reason for BTS Brazil to hire one over the other apart from who they like to have on the show the most.
The strike really didn’t have to be more than a speed bump. If BTS Brazil is willing to negotiate, we’d still be happy to go to the table with them.”
Do you know if Valve has any kind of knowledge or input on anything going on in SA apart from approving ESB and BTS Brazil to be broadcasters?
Kips:“I have no idea if Valve ever had any knowledge or input. I don’t even know if they approved of BTS Brazil — I imagine that after ESB won the bid for the SA DPC, they were free to sort out the different language subcontracts in any way they saw fit. I see no other way for EPL to end up putting on the low-cost cosplay version of the SA DPC at the start of the season.
What I know for sure is that I sent Valve a very long email a couple of days ago. They definitely have knowledge now.”
What can fans and supporters do to help out? Just not watch SA or is there anything else?
Kips:“Watch the community broadcasts!MoxxiandRkryptichave been covering whatever matches catch their fancy for two tours now, and we’re going to add to that over onRadaCasts’ channelwhere we hope to feature some of the striking talent.
Also, toss my brave fellow castersMathmagician,Rada,D2Bowie, andAponzeusa follow on Twitter! Write poems on Reddit about how you long for a DPC that presents Dota 2, the love of your life, in the best possible light!
Finally, keep expressing your solidarity. It’s important for the companies involved in Dota 2 to be reminded that their customers care about more than just the videogame on the screen.”
After speaking with Kips, esports.gg also reached out to BTS BR for comment on the caster strike, and will provide an update any response we receive. Stay tuned to esports.gg for moreDota 2 news, guides, and interviews!
