If you’re a fan of Valve’s DotA 2 MOBA, chances are every year you look forward to The International, which is basically the biggest DotA 2 championship tournament of the year. Last year’s The International saw its prize pool nearly hit the $11 million mark, but it looks like this year’s tournament has surpassed that and with time to spare too.
As it stands, the prize pool is sitting at a whopping $15 million which is not only way past the near-$11 million mark from last year, but it even surpassed the prize pool of more traditional sports, such as the 2015 Masters golf tournament from this year whose prize pool was “only” $10 million.
Also considering that Valve has only put $1.6 million of their own money to kick off the pool, this means that nearly $14 million was contributed by players. For those unfamiliar, the prize pool is largely contributed by players who can by Compendiums, a collection of in-game items. 25% of the revenue from the Compendium goes towards the prize pool, while Valve pockets the remaining 75%.
The developer has also been introducing stretch rewards which given that it has crossed the $15 million mark, it has all been claimed. It is unclear if Valve will introduce more stretch rewards given that the tournament is a little over a month away. It will be taking place at the Keyarena in Seattle from the 3rd of August to the 8th of August.