BOOM Esports Shuts Down Dota 2 Division Ending Their 8-Year Journey

Legendary Indonesian organization BOOM Esports has called it quits, announcing their departure from the Dota 2 scene entirely. This bittersweet move marks the end to an eight-year journey that’s seen a fair share of ups and downs. 

Eight Years and a Legacy

BOOM Esports began its Dota 2 journey in 2017, starting out with a fully Indonesian lineup. However, they gradually expanded beyond natural borders, signing players from all over Southeast Asia to remain competitive.

Over the next eight years, BOOM became one of the region’s most recognizable names, accumulating more than $1.6 million in prize money. 

The team’s peak came in 2022 with an international roster. BOOM won the Gamers Galaxy Invitational Series in Dubai, taking down Tundra Esports in the grand final, the team that would eventually win TI that same year. To this day, this tournament victory still remains one of SEA’s biggest international achievements. 

BOOM also qualified for The International twice. Their first rodeo was in TI11, where they eliminated defending champions Team Spirit, sending them out in last place. The second time was recently in 2025, where they finished last place. 

A Breeding Ground for Southeast Asian Stars

Aside from their victories along the years, BOOM was also responsible for propelling some of the most important Southeast Asian players into the global scene.  Rafli “Mikoto” Rahman, now regarded as arguably the best Dota 2 player in Southeast Asia, played under BOOM Esports for the longest time. He evolved into a world-class mid-laner with Talon and is now competing under Aurora Gaming with TI winners. 

Saieful “Fbz” Ilham, BOOM’s long-time offlaner, is no slouch either. He was scouted internationally and later played under Dota 2’s biggest names, such as Nigma Galaxy and Team Secret.

Let’s not forget Erin “Yopaj” Ferrer and Andrei “skem” Ong. Although their careers didn’t necessarily begin with BOOM, both players became pillars during the team’s golden year in 2022.

And today, they’ve taken their talents to OG’s new Filipino roster and have been making waves internationally in recent tournaments like PGL Wallachia Season 6. 

An Unsustainable Path

Unfortunately, past victories are one thing, but recent results are another. BOOM’s competitive results in the past few years have not been the greatest. The team failed to qualify for LAN tournaments throughout 2024 and 2025. Even when they did qualify to the biggest Dota 2 events of the year like The International 2025, their runs only ended in early exits. 

Part of the challenge stemmed from the SEA region itself. For years, BOOM was essentially “the next best team,” having to fight Talon Esports, who would just take every single qualifier slot from them with ease. And even though Talon recently collapsed, a new regional titan rose to replace them: OG, who have been performing above expectations. 

The reality is that BOOM hasn’t been good enough to compete for reliable slots, and for an organization looking for sustainability, the future was simply too unstable. To add fuel to the fire, BOOM as an organization hasn’t been in the healthiest position either. Their Valorant division recently failed to qualify for VCT Pacific, falling short in Ascension Pacific. With Dota 2 and Valorant being some of the organization’s most costly divisions, it’s clear to see they’re going through a lot of stress with their recent failures.