One of the most played games of all time, Dota 2 has a huge fan base all around the world. As expected, they host one of the biggest esports tournaments of all time with huge prizes. Let’s have a look at the history of The International!

As technology gets bigger, the esports ecosystem grows unintentionally with more people joining in. One of the biggest gaming and esports companies in the world, Valve, announced Dota 2 The International in 2011 and the tournament history began with a $1,600,000 prize pool; however, the prize pool got bigger constantly and reached an incredibly huge level.

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The International History

Beginning with TI 2011, The International now has a 10-year history. We have seen many different esports organizations competing with each other from all around the world. It is the most prestigious tournament in the Dota 2 community and after 2015, it even grew as a brand itself. At first, it was an offline tournament that was held by Valve once a year but as the “big revolution” happened in 2015, The International even had a bigger role in the community.

Dota Pro Circuit – “The Big Revolution”

Valve decided to start a new format, making TI the favorite of the newly-formed Pro Circuit. According to the new format, Valve sponsored four different majors across the world, including TI. The teams collected as many points as possible and the first sixteen teams in the standings grabbed themselves a ticket to the big league. However, the new system changed many times and reformed into something similar, but not the same. Today, teams from different nations compete in their regional leagues to collect as many Dota Pro Circuit points as possible to compete in The International. Those teams who secure higher places in the regional leagues qualify for the regional finals.

What is so special about it?

First of all, Valve has a unique prize pool system for teams to benefit from in order to continue growing their financial assets. Every year, a certain percentage of the battle passes that are being sold in the game market to every player is added to the prize pool. As seen below, Valve has been organizing the biggest tournaments in the esports ecosystem thanks to this system.

TI Prize Pools Throughout Years

TI 2011 – $1,600,000
TI 2012 – $1,600,000
TI 2013 – $2,874,380
TI 2014 – $10,923,977
TI 2015 – $18,429,613
TI 2016 – $20,770,460
TI 2017 – $24,787,916
TI 2018 – $25,532,177
TI 2019 – $34,330,068
TI 2021 – $40,018,195

The History-makers – OG

Since 2011, many different esports organizations have lifted the big trophy but there is only one team with back-to-back titles. The European esports team, OG, are the only ones with two The International trophies in history. Moreover, they have accomplished the “impossible” in two years, winning it back-to-back. “The history-makers” took home a prize of $59.862.245.

Lastly, it is possible to say that Dota 2 “The International history” is more than money as it holds hard work, tears and passion backstage.