Blood eSports has formally confirmed that it plans to enter the professional Dota 2 arena, seemingly confirming the speculations and rumours.

Sean “Hades” Goh, an analyst and caster, has been appointed by the organization to head up its scouting efforts for the 2023 Dota Pro Circuit, albeit it may not make as much of a splash as some fans may have hoped.

This action indicates that Bleed is actively searching for Dota talent and is preparing to assemble a squad in order to participate in the game for the first time. The organization now runs a freshly acquired Naraka: Bladepoint team as well as the VALORANT division, which has been its primary emphasis since its founding in September 2021.

No matter how this action seems on the surface, there are already rumors that Bleed is in negotiations with T1 to take the larger organization’s Division I position in the Southeast Asian DPC regional competition. Bypassing open qualifications in December and the requirement to move up from Division II, Bleed’s new lineup would be able to play right away for a seat at the first Major of the 2023 DPC season.

Once their contracts ended during The International 2022, T1 already cut ties with former captain Kuku and his Geek Fam companions Whitemon and Xepher. Additionally, T1 had a very bad season overall in the 2022 DPC, failing to really make an impact and entirely missing TI11 despite their best efforts to turn things around by bringing in Topson and Ana before regional qualifications.

It has not been confirmed, and T1 may still be looking to rebuild, but after letting go of three players and amid rumors that Topson is returning to Europe, it doesn’t seem like T1 intends to remain in Dota—or will at the very least regress in the following season.

Before the open and closed qualifications, which are scheduled to take place from December 11 to 15, the organization will have about a month to assemble a five-man squad if Bleed does not ultimately win T1’s Division I seat.