The International (Dota 2)

The International
Status Active
Genre Video games
Frequency Annual
Location(s) Cologne, Germany (2011)
Seattle, Washington, United States (2012–14)
Years active 4
Inaugurated August 17, 2011 – August 21, 2011
Most recent July 8, 2014 – July 21, 2014
Next event August 3, 2015 - August 8, 2015
Organized by Valve Corporation
Website
www.dota2.com/international

The International is an annual electronic sports Dota 2 championship tournament hosted by Valve Corporation, the video game developer behind Dota 2, in which sixteen teams are personally invited to compete. The tournament began as the debut of Dota 2 in August 2011 at Gamescom, with a total prize pot of $1.6 million and a grand prize of one million dollars.

Tournament history

The International tournament area at Gamescom 2011

The International 2011

Valve announced the first edition of The International on August 1, 2011. 16 teams were invited to compete in the tournament, which would also serve as the first public viewing of Dota 2, and it was streamed online with commentary in four languages; English, Chinese, German, and Russian. The tournament was funded by Valve, including the $1 million USD grand prize, with Nvidia supplying the hardware.[1][2] It took place at Gamescom in Cologne from August 17 to 21 the same year.[3]

The tournament started with a group stage in which the winners of each of the four groups were entered into a winner's bracket, and the other teams entered the loser's bracket. The rest of the tournament was then played as a double-elimination tournament.[4] The final of this first tournament was between Ukrainian team Natus Vincere and Chinese team EHOME, with Natus Vincere winning the grand prize after beating EHOME in three out of the four matches.[5] Runner's up EHOME won a second place prize of $250,000 USD and the other top eight teams split the remaining prize pool of $350,000 USD.[6]

The International 2011 is the central focus of the 2014 documentary Free to Play, which explores the lives of three of the players.[7]

Place Team Prize money
1st Ukraine Natus Vincere $1,000,000
2nd China EHOME $250,000
3rd Singapore Scythe Gaming $150,000
4th Denmark MeetYourMakers $80,000
5/6th China Invictus Gaming $35,000
5/6th Russia Moscow Five $35,000
7/8th Thailand MiTH.Trust $25,000
7/8th European Union Online Kingdom.Nirvana int $25,000

The International 2012

A crowd watches as the grand finals of The International 2012 commence in Benaroya Hall, Seattle, Washington.

The International 2012 was announced in May 2012 and held during PAX Prime.[8] The event was held at the 2,500 seat Benaroya Hall in Seattle from 31 August to 2 September, with teams situated in glass booths on the main stage.[9] The total prize pool remained $1.6 million USD, with $1 million USD for the winning team, and it was again broadcast in multiple languages.[10][11]

The previous winners, Natus Vincere, were beaten 3-1 by Chinese team Invictus Gaming in the final.[12] In November 2012 Valve released a documentary following the event online for free featuring interviews with the teams and following them from the preliminary stages through to the finale.[13]

Place Team Prize money
1st China Invictus Gaming $1,000,000
2nd Ukraine Natus Vincere $250,000
3rd China LGD-Gaming $150,000
4th China Team DK $80,000
5/6th China EHOME $35,000
5/6th Singapore Team Zenith $35,000
7/8th China TongFu Team $25,000
7/8th Malaysia Orange Esports $25,000

The International 2013

Valve announced The International 2013 on April 25, 2013. It was again hosted at the Benaroya Hall in Seattle from August 7 to 11. The first team to be invited were the defending champions, Invictus Gaming. Sixteen teams participated, thirteen of which received invitations, and the final three being decided in two qualifying tournaments and a match at the start of the tournament.[14] On May 6, it was announced that an interactive compendium would be available for purchase, detailing and cataloging the progression of The International, in addition to allowing for extensive interactivity to be made. A quarter of the revenue from the compendium was added to the original $1.6 million prize pool for the tournament, thereby extending the winnings of the participating teams.[15] Via the sales of interactive compendiums, The International reclaimed its previous title as the largest prize pool in electronic sports history, exceeding the two million dollar prize pool from the League of Legends Season 2 World Championship.[16] The total prizepool awarded to the winners was $2,874,381. KCPQ news anchor Kaci Aitchison acted as a host to The International 2013 and provided behind-the-scenes commentary and interviews with professional players and analysts.[17] The International 2013 was viewed by over one million concurrent online viewers with many utilizing live streaming websites such as Twitch.tv.[18]

Place Team Prize money
1st Sweden Alliance $1,437,190
2nd Ukraine Natus Vincere $632,364
3rd Malaysia Orange Esports $287,438
4th China TongFu Team $201,207
5/6th China Team DK $114,975
5/6th China Invictus Gaming $114,975
7/8th Europe Fnatic $43,116
7/8th United States Team Liquid $43,116

The International 2014

On March 31, 2014, Valve announced The International 2014, which would take place from July 18 to July 21 at the KeyArena, which is a venue with a significantly larger capacity than Benaroya Hall from the previous two years. Unlike the previous three events, there would be three tiers for admissions, including general admission, floor seating and VIP passes.[19] For The International 2014, eleven teams would receive direct invites, with an additional four spots determined by regional qualifiers taking place between May 12 and May 25. The sixteenth spot would be determined by a wild card qualifier between the runners-up from the regional competitions.[20] The tickets for the event were sold out within an hour of going on sale on April 4, 2014.[21]

The prize pool for the tournament broke records for being the largest in eSports by reaching the $10,000,000 (USD) mark on June 27, almost three weeks prior to the start of the tournament.[22] At the end of the tournament, eight Dota 2 players became the highest ranking players in terms of prize money won, surpassing the highest ranking player at the time, StarCraft player Lee "Jaedong" Jae-dong.[23] All 5 members of champion team Newbee became the top 5 highest ranking players in terms of prize money won and Chen "Hao" Zhihao became the highest ranking player at that time.[24]

This year's prize pool distribution as of 07/20/14 is as follows:[25]

Place Team Prize Money Percentage
1st China Newbee $5,028,308 46.00%
2nd China Vici Gaming $1,475,699 13.50%
3rd United States Evil Geniuses $1,038,455 9.50%
4th China Team DK $819,833 7.50%
5/6th United Nations Cloud9 $655,866 6.00%
5/6th China LGD-Gaming $655,866 6.00%
7/8th Ukraine Natus Vincere $519,227 4.75%
7/8th China Invictus Gaming $519,227 4.75%
9/10th United States Team Liquid $49,190 0.45%
9/10th Malaysia Titan eSports $49,190 0.45%
11/12th Germany Mousesports $38,259 0.35%
11/12th Sweden Alliance $38,259 0.35%
13/14th Russia Team Empire $21,862 0.20%
13/14th Europe Fnatic $21,862 0.20%

The International 2015

The first details pertaining to The International 2015 were revealed on January 5, 2015, with the preliminary announcement of the tournament. Sixteen teams are anticipated to attend the event, which will take place from August 3 to August 8. Team invitations and ticket sales are anticipated to begin in early May.[26] It is scheduled to take place at Seattle, WA.[27]

Media coverage

The primary medium for The International coverage is through the Internet. Throughout each year, tournament coverage is done by a selection of online gaming and electronic sports organizations who provide live streaming, commentary and articles surrounding games in the progress, similar to sports commentators and analysts.[18] On July 17, 2014, Valve announced, however, that the coverage of The International Dota 2 Championships 2014 (TI4) will be presented in collaboration with ESPN on its live multi-screen sports network, ESPN3. In addition, an exclusive show previewing the final match will be presented on ESPN2 on Sunday at 8:30 pm Pacific. Live access to ESPN2 is also available on digital platforms via WatchESPN.[28]

References

  1. ↑ Sullivan, Lucas (1 August 2011). "Valve to hold $1,000,000 Dota 2 tournament at Gamescom". PC Gamer. Retrieved 22 February 2014.
  2. ↑ Senior, Tom (10 August 2011). "Dota 2 Gamescom tournament to be streamed live on Dota2.com". PC Gamer. Retrieved 22 February 2014.
  3. ↑ Miozzi, CJ (1 August 2011). "Valve Announces DOTA 2 Gamescom Tournament". Game Front. Retrieved 22 February 2014.
  4. ↑ Senior, Tom (17 August 2011). "Dota 2: the tournament so far...". PC Gamer. Retrieved 22 February 2014.
  5. ↑ Schiller, Jen (23 August 2011). "First Ever Dota 2 Championship Winner Revealed". Kotaku. Retrieved 22 February 2014.
  6. ↑ O'Connor, Alice (22 August 2011). "Dota 2 tournament $1 million finals won by Na'vi". Shack News. Retrieved 22 February 2014.
  7. ↑ Albert, Brian (March 21, 2014). "Free to Play review". IGN. Retrieved January 22, 2014.
  8. ↑ Hafer, T.J. (11 May 2012). "The International Dota 2 Championships 2012 to be held at PAX Prime this August". PC Gamer. Retrieved 3 March 2014.
  9. ↑ Schreier, Jason (4 September 2012). "Dota Dispatch: Watching People Play Video Games For $1.6 Million". Kotaku. Retrieved 3 March 2014.
  10. ↑ Senior, Tom (11 June 2012). "Dota 2 International 2012 tickets go on sale tomorrow". PC Gamer. Retrieved 3 March 2014.
  11. ↑ Nunneley, Stephany (31 August 2012). "The International Dota 2 Championships 2012 begins at PAX Prime". VG247. Retrieved 3 March 2014.
  12. ↑ Sarkar, Samit (4 September 2012). "Dota 2 International tournament 2012 winners round-up". Polygon. Retrieved 3 March 2014.
  13. ↑ Lahti, Evan (16 November 2012). "Dota 2 - The International 2 documentary video released by Valve". PC Gamer. Retrieved 3 March 2014.
  14. ↑ Dota Team (2013-04-26). "The International". Valve Corporation.
  15. ↑ Malloroy, Jordan (2013-05-07). "Dota 2 introduces 'Interactive Compendium' tournament companion". Joystiq. Retrieved 2013-05-09.
  16. ↑ Martin (May 16, 2013). "Dota 2's The International 3 reaches $2m prize pool". GameSpot.
  17. ↑ O' Connor, Alice (9 August 2013). "Watch Dota 2's The International tournament this weekend". Shack News. Retrieved 3 April 2014.
  18. ↑ 18.0 18.1 Makuch, Eddie (13 August 2013). "The International hits 1 million concurrent viewers". Gamespot. Retrieved April 1, 2014.
  19. ↑ Williams, Katie (March 31, 2014). "Valve Announces Dates, Location, and Ticket Prices for The International 2014". IGN. Retrieved April 1, 2014.
  20. ↑ Gaston, Martin (April 1, 2014). "The International 2014 sells out in an hour". GameSpot.
  21. ↑ Breslau, Rod (April 5, 2014). "Valve announces dates for Dota 2 tournament The International 2014". onGamers. Retrieved April 6, 2014.
  22. ↑ Vas, Gergo (June 26, 2014). "Dota 2 Tournament Prize Pool Exceeds $10 Million". Kotaku. Retrieved June 26, 2014.
  23. ↑ "Dota 2 takes the Top 8 Spots in Gaming Earnings". Neutral Creeps - Dota 2 News From Around The World. 2014-07-24.
  24. ↑ "Highest Overall Earnings". e-Sports Earnings. Retrieved 2014-08-16.
  25. ↑ Bailey, Matthew (2014-07-20). "Dota 2 Prize Pool Tracker". Dota 2 Prize Pool Tracker. Cyborgmatt. Retrieved 2014-07-20.
  26. ↑ Moser, Cassidee (January 5, 2015). "Valve Announces The International 2015 Tournament Dates". IGN.
  27. ↑ "Preparing for The International". Dota 2 Offical Blog. Retrieved 27 April 2015.
  28. ↑ 18 Jul 2014, Valve Press Release, International Dota 2 Championships on ESPN Networks, Steam

External links