Everything you need to know about The International
The International, also known as TI amongst the esports community, is the most prestigious Dota 2 competition. Since 2011, it has been organized annually by Valve and has excelled in popularity throughout the years. In 2015 the qualifying events for the TI were increased paving the way for the Dota 2 Major Circuit. The winners of these Majors receive direct invites to the TI, depending on the team rankings while the remaining teams have to compete in the qualifiers to clinch the last qualifying spots.[1]
How did it all start?
The first iteration of The International, TI 1, took place in Cologne, Germany. The competition was held during Gamescom, to unveil the game to the global gaming community. Valve invited 16 of the biggest esports organizations at that time, and hosted a $1.6 million prize pool! $1 million was awarded to Natus Vincere, the winner of the competition.[2]
The TI 2 took place in 2012 in Seattle, Washington and the prize pool of the competition remained at $1.6 million. However, instead of 16, 14 teams were invited directly while the last two spots were contested in the regional qualifiers.
Crowd Funding Model implemented by Valve
In 2013, Valve decided to implement crowdfunding for The International prize pool. It was an ingenious move since then and to date, The International remains the most lucrative esports event in the world in terms of prize money. As The International 2013 prize pool grew to $2.9 meanwhile in 2014 the prize pool was $10.9 million
In 2015, 2016, 2017, and 2018 the prize pool of each iteration of The international was $18.4 million, $20.7 million, $24.7 million, and $25.5 million respectively.[3] This substantial rise in prize pool over the years marked the success of Dota 2 and its global impact on the competitive landscape of esports.
The competition was held in Canada till 2018. So in 2019, Valve decided to make headlines again and announced that the competition will be held in China. It took place in Shanghai and the prize pool that year was $34.3 million.[4]
The International 10
The latest edition of The International was the TI 10. The competition was to be held in Stockholm, Sweden in 2020. However, owing to the COVID-19 pandemic, it was held in October 2021 in Bucharest, Romania.
The competition hosted the best 18 Dota2 teams from all over the world and hosted a staggering prize pool of $40 million. PSG.LGD from China was tipped to be favorites to lift the title since they didn’t lose a single series heading to the grand finals. Meanwhile, their opponent in the grand finale was Team Spirit. The Russian side lost its first series of the Upper Bracket to Invictus Gaming and then fought tooth and nail in the lower bracket to reach the finale. Both teams fought hard in the best-of-five series where against all odds Spirit won 3-2 and claimed the lion’s share of the prize pool, $18 million. [5]
References
[1] https://www.player.one/dota-2-direct-invites-season-1-2021-dpc-138565
[2] https://navi.gg/en/static/history/
[3]https://www.oneesports.gg/dota2/dota-2-how-the-prize-pools-for-the-international-became-the-biggest-in-esports/
[4] https://www.ics-digital.com/blog/dota-2-the-international-9-sets-multiple-new-records
[5]https://www.gamespot.com/articles/team-spirit-wins-dota-2s-the-international-claiming-18-million-prize/1100-6497140/