Even with the uncertainty around COVID-19 and safety restrictions, interest and anticipation for the upcoming The International tournament for Dota 2 is gaining huge momentum. Despite having been effectively postponed indefinitely back in April, with no official date expected anytime soon, the prize pool for The International has reached a staggering $34.4 million to date, and the figure will continue to rise until at least September.
The gigantic prize pool means that Dota 2's The International will have the largest prize pool in esports history when it eventually happens, topping the $34.3 million fund for the 2019 event. The news is not particularly astounding though, given that The International tournament has broken the esports prize pool record for each of the past five years, and continues to hold all the top five positions for esports prize pools, according to esportsearnings.com.
The prize pool is generated by Dota 2 players buying the one of three battle passes, which cost between $9.99 and $44.99 and provide in-game rewards and cosmetics as players level through the pass. A quarter of the purchase price of the battle pass goes towards The International's prize pool, and with developer Valve stating the current battle pass will remain on sale until at least September 19, esports fans can expect the figure to keep growing. If Valve keeps the battle pass on sale until the event actually takes place, the prize pool could even break $40 million.
The next The International tournament will be the tenth held by Valve, which also runs the Dota Pro Circuit, a series of esports events that help determine 12 of the 18 teams who are chosen to compete at the main tournament. The most recent winners were OG, who became the first team ever to win the tournament twice, as well as the first to ever win consecutive tournaments, making them likely to be strong contenders again. Last year's first prize was a huge $15.6 million, and the winning team are also awarded the Aegis of Champions, a bronze and silver trophy with influences from Chinese and Norse design.
While the value of the battle passes and the included content have been questioned by some Dota 2 fans, it's clear that both the passes themselves and The International tournaments are setting new benchmarks for esports competitions and funding. Having now broken the prize pool record for six years in a row, The International shows just how far esports have come over the last decade. With such huge interest, gamers can be sure that Valve will look to resume the tournament and qualifying events as soon as it safely can.
Whether The Tournament 10 ends up taking place in 2020 or 2021, fans can expect a huge and exciting competition for both the Aegis of Champions, and the ever-growing prize pool.
Dota 2 is available for Linux, Mac, and PC.
Source: The Verge