Everything to know about the tenth year of The International

The International is a mass eSports tournament for avid Dota two players.

Occurring every August, if the tournament goes ahead this year, it will take place in Europe with a staggering prize pool of almost £25 million. Who said physical athletes were the only high ballers?

The tenth year of the competition is highly anticipated, with not much known about it so far. Here’s everything that is known, with more news to be released soon.

The event will be hosted in Stockholm

Valve, the official event organizers, have reported that Stockholm will maintain their hosting responsibilities. The event will take place in The Globe, where concerts and competitions are commonly hosted.

Last year, Valve asked countries across the world to place their bids to see who will host the 11^th event, meaning there could be a new headquarters for the eSports tournament very soon.

Battle Pass sales will make up 25% of the prize pool

Valve released Battle Passes in 2020 to get people excited for the upcoming event. These passes give fans access to exclusive event features, as well as cosmetic items to enhance game play. Sales of the passes will contribute to the huge prize pool for the winner, so while predictions are at £25 million, it may be much more.

18 teams will battle it out

12 of the competing teams will qualify from the Dota Pro Circuit while another six will enter via regional playoffs. As a general rule of thumb, it can be expected that there will be at least one team from North and South America, Europe, Southeast Asia, China and the CIS regions.

The tournament uses a best-of-three elimination process to determine the grand finalists. In 2019, the OG team took home the title with a massive £24.7 million to split between the players.

They’re still looking for sponsorships

Just like offline sports, eSports events are a great place for advertisers who are looking to appeal to people with a love of gaming. Top brands such as Red Bull often sponsor the event, while online stores and other drinks brands have also made their mark at The International. After a break last year, the tournament still has plenty of space for new sponsorships – both established or newly emerging brands.

Although there’s not much else known about this year’s event, there’s still plenty of reasons to get excited. If someone already follows the top teams, they’ll have been waiting for the tournament since 2019 and watched their journey over the past couple of years. If they’re new to eSports, The International is certainly an event not to miss. It will be watched by millions across the globe. 

The editorial unit