Dota 2 The International Prize Pool Hits Record $34.4 Million

Dota 2, one of the most popular multiplayer online battle arena (MOBA) games, is known for having massive prize pools for its annual The International esports tournament. This year, the tournament has reached a prize pool of $34.4 (roughly Rs. 255 crore) million and counting. Dota 2 has broken its own record from last year of $34.3 million (roughly Rs. 254 crore). While the tournament has been postponed indefinitely and does not have a fixed date yet due to the ongoing pandemic, its prize pool continues to grow.

At the time of writing, the prize pool for Dota 2 The International esports tournament is at $34,409,860 (roughly Rs. 255.6 crore), which can be seen on its official website. This prize pool is funded by Dota 2 Battle Pass purchases that start from $9.99 and go up to $44.99 — 25 percent of all Battle Pass sales go directly to the prize pool of the tournament. This means that as players continue to buy the Battle Pass, the prize pool continues to grow.

Notably, this Battle Pass will last till September 19 which means the prize pool will increase even further.

Valve, the developer of Dota 2, has not announced a date for the tournament or the Dota Pro Circuit (DPC) and a tweet from August 25 says it “can't yet commit to new dates for TI10 and the DPC.” This uncertainty is because of the “recent increase in the unpredictability of COVID-19”, the tweet adds. It is unclear if The International tournament will take place this year or the next and we'll just have to wait for an update from Valve.

Last year, the prize pool for The International was $34.3 million and it was won by team OG, who were the returning champions from winning the tournament the previous year. They became the first ever repeat champions of The International.

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Vineet Washington Email Vineet Vineet Washington writes about gaming, smartphones, audio devices, and new technologies for Gadgets 360, out of Delhi. Vineet is a Senior Sub-editor for Gadgets 360, and has frequently written about gaming on all platforms and new developments in the world of smartphones. In his free time, Vineet likes to play video games, make clay models, play the guitar, watch sketch-comedy, and anime. Vineet is available on vineetw@ndtv.com, so please send in your leads and tips. More