The International hit with severe DDoS attacks

The second day of the Dota 2 International 2015 is underway, but it's been having a bit of a rough time. Kotaku is reporting that the tournament is struggling under the weight of DDoS attacks, which had left competitors unable to finish a single round through much of the day.

Reports of the problem have also appeared on PC World and SBNation, which noted that announcers confirmed the DDoS attack after the best-of-three matchup between Evil Geniuses and compLexity was halted for a third time. The action was suspended for the better part of an hour, but resumed around 4:20 pm ET, and our man on the scene Chris Thursten says things have been stable since coming back online.

That doesn't close the door to the possibility that further disruptions could occur, however. Valve is presumably working overtime to keep things rolling, but it's very hard to defend against them—you can read more about that in our breakdown of why DDoS attacks are so hard to stop—and based on the Norse Corp IP Viking map, Seattle, where The International is taking place, is still being targeted. If the tournament is knocked out again, I wouldn't be at all surprised to see some big changes in the way matches are held in the future.

Don't miss our recap of the first day of The International 2015, which saw some highs, some lows, and one ¯\_(ツ)_/¯, right here.

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Andy has been gaming on PCs from the very beginning, starting as a youngster with text adventures and primitive action games on a cassette-based TRS80. From there he graduated to the glory days of Sierra Online adventures and Microprose sims, ran a local BBS, learned how to build PCs, and developed a longstanding love of RPGs, immersive sims, and shooters. He began writing videogame news in 2007 for The Escapist and somehow managed to avoid getting fired until 2014, when he joined the storied ranks of PC Gamer. He covers all aspects of the industry, from new game announcements and patch notes to legal disputes, Twitch beefs, esports, and Henry Cavill. Lots of Henry Cavill.