The International (''Dota 2'')

The International
Genre Dota 2 eSports tournament
Frequency Annual
Location(s)
Years active 2011–present
Inaugurated August 17–21, 2011
Most recent August 20–25, 2018
Next event 2019
Participants
  • 16 teams (2011–2016)
  • 18 teams (2017–present)
Organized by Valve Corporation
Website www.dota2.com/international

The International (TI) is an annual Dota 2 eSports tournament hosted by Valve Corporation, the game's developer. The first tournament took place in Cologne, Germany at Gamescom in 2011 and was held shortly after the public reveal of Dota 2, with a total prize pot of $1.6 million. The second International took place in 2012 at the Benaroya Hall in Seattle, and retained the same $1.6 million prize structure. For the third International in 2013, again at Benaroya Hall, Valve introduced an interactive, digital "compendium" which fans could purchase to follow the event and contribute to the prize pool; which reached a $2.8 million prize pool with $1.2 million added from compendium purchases.

The fourth International, this time held at the larger Seattle venue KeyArena in 2014, continued the practice of compendium sales and ultimately broke records for having one of the largest prize pool in eSports history, with a total of nearly $11 million. The fifth International took place in 2015, with the prize pool totaling over $18 million,[1] making it the largest eSports prize pool for a single tournament until being consecutively surpassed by the sixth and seventh Internationals.[2][3] The eighth International was held at the Rogers Arena in Vancouver, Canada in August 2018.

Tournament history

The International tournament area at Gamescom 2011

2011

Valve Corporation 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.[4][5] It took place at Gamescom in Cologne from August 17 to 21 the same year.[6]

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.[7] 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.[8] 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.[9]

The International was the central focus of the 2014 documentary Free to Play, which explored the lives of three of the players.[10]

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
Russia Moscow Five $35,000
7/8th Thailand MiTH.Trust $25,000
European Union Online Kingdom.Nirvana int $25,000

2012

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

The International 2012 was announced in May 2012 and held during PAX Prime.[11] The event was held at the 2,500 seat Benaroya Hall in Seattle from August 31 to September 2, with teams situated in glass booths on the main stage.[12] 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.[13][14]

The previous winners, Natus Vincere, were beaten 3-1 by Chinese team Invictus Gaming in the final.[15] 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.[16]

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
Singapore Team Zenith $35,000
7/8th China TongFu Team $25,000
Malaysia Orange eSports $25,000

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.[17] 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.[18] 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.[19] 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.[20] The International 2013 was viewed by over one million concurrent online viewers with many utilizing live streaming websites such as Twitch.tv.[21]

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
China Invictus Gaming $114,975
7/8th Europe Fnatic $43,116
United States Team Liquid $43,116

2014

The International 2014

On March 31, 2014, Valve announced The International 2014, which would take place from July 18 to 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.[22] 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 25. The sixteenth spot would be determined by a wild card qualifier between the runners-up from the regional competitions.[23] The tickets for the event were sold out within an hour of going on sale on April 4, 2014.[24]

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.[25] At the end of the tournament, with a final total prize pool of $10,931,103 and over $5 million split amongst the five players of the 1st place team, 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.[26] The prize pool is as follows:[27]

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

2015

The first details pertaining to The International 2015 were revealed on January 5, 2015, with the preliminary announcement of the tournament. Sixteen teams attended the event, which took place from August 3 to 8 at the KeyArena in Seattle.[28] The prize pool totalled more than US$18 million, of which US$16.4 million was contributed by players.[29]

The invited teams were:[30]

The winners and runners-up of the regional qualifiers were:[30]

Region Winner Wildcard spot
Americas Complexity Gaming Team Archon[note 2]
Europe Natus Vincere Vega Squadron
China EHOME CDEC Gaming
Southeast Asia MVP.Hot6ix MVP Phoenix

The prize pool is as follows:

Place Team Prize money
1st United States Evil Geniuses $6,616,014
2nd China CDEC Gaming $2,848,562
3rd China LGD Gaming $2,205,338
4th China Vici Gaming $1,562,114
5/6th Russia Virtus Pro $1,182,011
China EHOME $1,182,011
7/8th Europe Team Secret $818,316
South Korea MVP Phoenix $818,316
9-12th United States compLexity Gaming $218,217
Europe Cloud9 $218,217
Russia Team Empire $218,217
China Invictus Gaming $218,217
13-16th China NewBee $54,554
Malaysia Fnatic $54,554
Ukraine Natus Vincere $54,554
South Korea MVP.HOT6ix $54,554

2016

A main event match at The International 2016, again at the KeyArena

The first details pertaining to The International 2016 were revealed on March 31, 2016, with the announcement of ticket sales for the tournament.[31] Open qualifiers for The International 2016 began on June 21, with regional qualifiers following on June 25. Following the qualifiers, the tournament main event took place from August 3–11, with the finals being held on August 13.

The initial prize pool was seeded with $1,600,000 from the developers, with more to be added from players through in-game purchases of the Battle Pass. The final prize pool reached $20,770,460, making the tournament have the largest prize pool in eSports history.[32]

On June 19, 2016, Valve released the names of the invited teams, as well as details for qualification through each regional qualifier. The number of invited teams was reduced to six (down from ten from 2015), resulting in both the winner and runner-up of each region (China, Europe, Americas, and Southeast Asia) obtaining qualification. The final two spots were made up of Wild Card teams, which were found through their own qualifier.[33]

The qualifiers for each region consisted of eight invited teams (five for the Americas) and two from open qualifiers (organized by FaceIt and Perfect World in China). These qualifiers placed all 10 teams (seven for Americas) into a single table where each team played the others in a round robin competition with the top team in each region advancing to The International as the regional qualifier. Of the remaining teams, the next highest four teams were placed into a double elimination tournament with each round played as a best of three, while the remaining five teams (two for the Americas) were eliminated. The Grand Finals winner of each regional playoff also automatically qualified for The International as their region's playoff qualifier. The playoff runners-up received a spot in the Wild Card qualifier; a single bracket, double elimination tournament held in Seattle a day before the main event, with the semi-final victors receiving the final two spots.

The invited teams were:

Region Regional qualifier Playoff qualifier Wild card qualifier
Americas United States Evil Geniuses United States Digital Chaos United States compLexity Gaming
Europe Europe Team Secret Sweden Alliance Europe Escape Gaming
China China Wings Gaming China Vici Gaming Reborn China EHOME.cn
Southeast Asia Philippines TnC Gaming Malaysia Fnatic Philippines Execration

The final prize table was as follows:

Place Team Prize money
1st China Wings Gaming $9,139,002
2nd United States Digital Chaos $3,427,126
3rd United States Evil Geniuses $2,180,898
4th Malaysia Fnatic $1,453,932
5th/6th China EHOME $934,671
South Korea MVP Phoenix
7th/8th European Union Team Liquid $519,262
Philippines TnC Gaming
9th–12th Sweden Alliance $311,557
European Union OG
China LGD Gaming
China Newbee
13th–16th European Union Escape Gaming $103,852
Ukraine Natus Vincere
European Union Team Secret
China Vici Gaming Reborn

2017

As with previous years of the tournament, a corresponding battle pass for Dota 2 was released before the event, allowing the prize pool to be crowdfunded.[34][35][36] Known as the "Compendium", 25% of revenue made by it was sent directly towards the tournament's prize pool.[36]

The tournament initially began with the Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS), China, Europe, North America, South America, and Southeast Asia regional qualifiers in June 2017.[37] Prior to the main event on August 2–5, two separate best-of-two round robin groups consisting of nine teams each were played, with the bottom placed team of each group being eliminated.[38][39][40] The remaining 16 teams moved on to the double elimination main event at the KeyArena in Seattle from August 7–12, with the top four finishing teams from both groups advancing to the upper bracket, and the bottom four advancing to the lower bracket.[39][38][37] The first round of the lower bracket was treated as single-elimination, with the loser of each match being immediately eliminated from the tournament.[38][40] Every other round of both brackets was played in a best-of-three series, with the exception being the grand finals, which was played between the winners of the upper and lower brackets in a best-of-five series.[38][40] This also marked the first time in an International where the winning team of the tournament won 3-0 in the grand finals.

Direct invitation
Regional qualifier winners
  • China iG Vitality (China)
  • China LGD.Forever Young (China runner-up)
  • China LGD Gaming (China third place)
  • Russia Team Empire (CIS)
  • Europe Team Secret (Europe)
  • Europe HellRaisers (Europe runner-up)
  • United States Cloud9 (North America)
  • United States Digital Chaos (North America runner-up)
  • Peru Infamous (South America)
  • Philippines TNC Pro Team (Southeast Asia)
  • Malaysia Fnatic (Southeast Asia runner-up)
  • Philippines Execration (Southeast Asia third place)
Place Team Prize money
1st Europe Team Liquid $10,862,683
2nd China Newbee $3,950,067
3rd China LGD.Forever Young $2,592,231
4th China LGD Gaming $1,728,154
5th/6th China Invictus Gaming $1,110,956
Russia Virtus.pro
7th/8th Europe OG $617,198
Russia Team Empire
9th–12th United States Digital Chaos $370,319
United States Evil Geniuses
Europe Team Secret
Philippines TNC Pro Team
13th–16th United States Cloud9 $123,440
Philippines Execration
China iG Vitality
Peru Infamous
17th–18th Malaysia Fnatic $61,720
Europe HellRaisers

2018

The International 2018 was held at the Rogers Arena in Vancouver, Canada from August 20–25, 2018.[41] The location change was due to the KeyArena undergoing renovation construction at the time.[42] As another change from previous Internationals, it featured a series of tournaments, running from October 2017 until June 2018 and known as the Dota Pro Circuit (DPC), that awarded qualifying points with the top eight ranking teams receiving direct invitations.[43][44][45][46][47][48] The grand finals took place between OG and PSG.LGD, with OG winning the series 3–2. Their victory was considered a Cinderella and underdog success story, as they had came from the open qualifiers and were not favored in matches throughout the competition.

Place Team Prize money
1st Europe OG $11,190,158
2nd China PSG.LGD $4,069,148
3rd United States Evil Geniuses $2,670,379
4th Europe Team Liquid $1,780,252
5th/6th Europe Team Secret $1,144,448
Russia Virtus.pro
7th/8th United States OpTic Gaming $635,804
United States VGJ.Storm
9th–12th Philippines Mineski $381,483
China Team Serenity
China Vici Gaming
Russia Winstrike Team
13th–16th Malaysia Fnatic $127,161
China Newbee
Philippines TNC Predator
China VGJ.Thunder
17th–18th China Invictus Gaming $63,580
Brazil paiN Gaming

2019

The International 2019 will be held in Shanghai at the Mercedes-Benz Arena.[49]

Media coverage

The primary medium for The International coverage is through the live streaming platform Twitch.tv. 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.[21] Multiple streams are provided in a variety of languages. The International also sometimes provides a "newbie stream" that is dedicated to casting each game for viewers who are unfamiliar with the game and its rules.

For The International 2014, Valve announced that coverage would also be presented in collaboration with ESPN on its live multi-screen sports network, ESPN3. In addition, an exclusive show previewing the final match was presented on ESPN2.[50]

Notes

  1. ↑ formerly Team Malaysia
  2. ↑ Played the qualifiers as North American Rejects v2

References

  1. ↑ Phil Savage (July 21, 2015). "The International 2015 prize distribution announced". PC Gamer. Archived from the original on July 23, 2015. Retrieved July 21, 2015.
  2. ↑ Walker, Dylan. "The International 6 now boasts the largest esports prize pool of all time". esports.yahoo.com. Archived from the original on August 25, 2016. Retrieved July 27, 2016.
  3. ↑ Prescott, Shaun. "The Dota 2 International prize pool has comfortably broken its record". PC Gamer. Archived from the original on August 8, 2017. Retrieved August 8, 2017.
  4. ↑ Sullivan, Lucas (August 1, 2011). "Valve to hold $1,000,000 Dota 2 tournament at Gamescom". PC Gamer. Archived from the original on April 7, 2014. Retrieved February 22, 2014.
  5. ↑ Senior, Tom (August 10, 2011). "Dota 2 Gamescom tournament to be streamed live on Dota2.com". PC Gamer. Archived from the original on November 23, 2013. Retrieved February 22, 2014.
  6. ↑ Miozzi, CJ (August 1, 2011). "Valve Announces DOTA 2 Gamescom Tournament". Game Front. Archived from the original on December 24, 2013. Retrieved February 22, 2014.
  7. ↑ Senior, Tom (August 17, 2011). "Dota 2: the tournament so far..." PC Gamer. Archived from the original on March 27, 2014. Retrieved February 22, 2014.
  8. ↑ Schiller, Jen (August 23, 2011). "First Ever Dota 2 Championship Winner Revealed". Kotaku. Archived from the original on July 17, 2014. Retrieved February 22, 2014.
  9. ↑ O'Connor, Alice (August 22, 2011). "Dota 2 tournament $1 million finals won by Na'vi". Shack News. Archived from the original on August 8, 2014. Retrieved February 22, 2014.
  10. ↑ Albert, Brian (March 21, 2014). "Free to Play review". IGN. Archived from the original on March 22, 2014. Retrieved January 22, 2014.
  11. ↑ Hafer, T.J. (May 11, 2012). "The International Dota 2 Championships 2012 to be held at PAX Prime this August". PC Gamer. Archived from the original on June 29, 2014. Retrieved March 3, 2014.
  12. ↑ Schreier, Jason (September 4, 2012). "Dota Dispatch: Watching People Play Video Games For $1.6 Million". Kotaku. Archived from the original on December 31, 2013. Retrieved March 3, 2014.
  13. ↑ Senior, Tom (June 11, 2012). "Dota 2 International 2012 tickets go on sale tomorrow". PC Gamer. Archived from the original on November 4, 2013. Retrieved March 3, 2014.
  14. ↑ Nunneley, Stephany (August 31, 2012). "The International Dota 2 Championships 2012 begins at PAX Prime". VG247. Archived from the original on January 11, 2015. Retrieved March 3, 2014.
  15. ↑ Sarkar, Samit (September 4, 2012). "Dota 2 International tournament 2012 winners round-up". Polygon. Archived from the original on March 4, 2014. Retrieved March 3, 2014.
  16. ↑ Lahti, Evan (November 16, 2012). "Dota 2 - The International 2 documentary video released by Valve". PC Gamer. Archived from the original on March 5, 2014. Retrieved March 3, 2014.
  17. ↑ Dota Team (April 26, 2013). "The International". Valve Corporation. Archived from the original on May 1, 2013.
  18. ↑ Malloroy, Jordan (May 7, 2013). "Dota 2 introduces 'Interactive Compendium' tournament companion". Joystiq. Archived from the original on May 10, 2013. Retrieved May 9, 2013.
  19. ↑ Martin (May 16, 2013). "Dota 2's The International 3 reaches $2m prize pool". GameSpot. Archived from the original on June 8, 2013.
  20. ↑ O' Connor, Alice (August 9, 2013). "Watch Dota 2's The International tournament this weekend". Shack News. Archived from the original on December 15, 2013. Retrieved April 3, 2014.
  21. 1 2 Makuch, Eddie (August 13, 2013). "The International hits 1 million concurrent viewers". GameSpot. Archived from the original on September 4, 2016. Retrieved April 1, 2014.
  22. ↑ Williams, Katie (March 31, 2014). "Valve Announces Dates, Location, and Ticket Prices for The International 2014". IGN. Archived from the original on April 4, 2014. Retrieved April 1, 2014.
  23. ↑ Gaston, Martin (April 1, 2014). "The International 2014 sells out in an hour". GameSpot. Archived from the original on April 4, 2014.
  24. ↑ Breslau, Rod (April 5, 2014). "Valve announces dates for Dota 2 tournament The International 2014". onGamers. Archived from the original on April 6, 2014. Retrieved April 6, 2014.
  25. ↑ Vas, Gergo (June 26, 2014). "Dota 2 Tournament Prize Pool Exceeds $10 Million". Kotaku. Archived from the original on June 29, 2014. Retrieved June 26, 2014.
  26. ↑ "Dota 2 takes the Top 8 Spots in Gaming Earnings". Neutral Creeps - Dota 2 News From Around The World. July 24, 2014. Archived from the original on August 19, 2014.
  27. ↑ Bailey, Matthew (July 20, 2014). "Dota 2 Prize Pool Tracker". Dota 2 Prize Pool Tracker. Cyborgmatt. Archived from the original on July 27, 2014. Retrieved July 20, 2014.
  28. ↑ Moser, Cassidee (January 5, 2015). "Valve Announces The International 2015 Tournament Dates". IGN. Archived from the original on January 8, 2015.
  29. ↑ "Archived copy". Archived from the original on May 13, 2017. Retrieved May 6, 2017.
  30. 1 2 "Dota 2 - The International 2015". Dota2.com. Archived from the original on July 8, 2017.
  31. ↑ "Tickets for The International 2016". Valve. Archived from the original on June 29, 2016.
  32. ↑ Savov, Vlad. "Dota 2 breaks its own record for biggest prize pool in e-sports". The Venge. Archived from the original on July 28, 2016. Retrieved July 27, 2016.
  33. ↑ "Dota 2 - The International 2016". Dota2.com. Archived from the original on June 23, 2016. Retrieved June 23, 2016.
  34. ↑ Good, Owen. "Dota 2 co-op campaign included in The International 2017's Battle Pass". Polygon. Archived from the original on August 3, 2017. Retrieved July 10, 2017.
  35. ↑ "Valve Launches The Battle Pass Weekend Sale; Includes Battle Levels And Treasure Bundle". MalaysianDigest.com. Archived from the original on June 30, 2017. Retrieved July 10, 2017.
  36. 1 2 Rose, Victoria. "The International's prize pool is, once again, the biggest in esports history". The Flying Courier. Polygon. Archived from the original on August 4, 2017. Retrieved July 12, 2017.
  37. 1 2 Robichaud, Andrew. "First six invitees announced for International 7". TSN.ca. Archived from the original on August 3, 2017.
  38. 1 2 3 4 "The International Approaches". blog.dota2.com. Archived from the original on August 2, 2017. Retrieved July 22, 2017.
  39. 1 2 "Dota 2 - The International 2017". dota2.com. Archived from the original on July 8, 2017. Retrieved July 10, 2017.
  40. 1 2 3 Rose, Victoria. "The International 7 format and prize pool, explained". The Flying Courier. Polygon. Archived from the original on August 3, 2017. Retrieved July 25, 2017.
  41. ↑ Rose, Victoria. "The International 8 to take place August 20–25 in Vancouver". The Flying Courier. Polygon. Archived from the original on March 16, 2018. Retrieved March 16, 2018.
  42. ↑ Rose, Victoria. "Valve: TI move to Vancouver is due to Key Arena construction plans". The Flying Courier. Polygon. Archived from the original on April 1, 2018. Retrieved March 31, 2018.
  43. ↑ "Dota 2 - The Road to The International". Dota2.com. Archived from the original on April 23, 2018. Retrieved April 22, 2018.
  44. ↑ "Here are the top eight Dota Pro Circuit point winners so far". The Flying Courier. Archived from the original on April 23, 2018. Retrieved April 22, 2018.
  45. ↑ "Here are all the finalized rosters for the rest of the 2017-18 Dota Pro Circuit season". The Flying Courier. Archived from the original on April 24, 2018. Retrieved April 22, 2018.
  46. ↑ Gach, Ethan. "Valve Announces Big Changes To Dota 2's Tournament Structure Going Forward". Kotaku. Archived from the original on July 10, 2017. Retrieved July 4, 2017.
  47. ↑ Chalk, Andy. "Valve is eliminating the Dota 2 Majors for the 2017-18 season". PC Gamer. Archived from the original on July 5, 2017. Retrieved July 4, 2017.
  48. ↑ "The Dota Pro Circuit". blog.dota2.com. Archived from the original on September 16, 2017. Retrieved September 15, 2017.
  49. ↑ Mejia, Ozzie. "The Dota 2 International 9 will take place in Shanghai, China". ShackNews. Retrieved 25 August 2018.
  50. ↑ Jul 18, 2014, Valve Press Release, International Dota 2 Championships on ESPN Networks Archived July 19, 2014, at the Wayback Machine., Steam
This article is issued from Wikipedia. The text is licensed under Creative Commons - Attribution - Sharealike. Additional terms may apply for the media files.