Dota 2's huge official tournament, known as The International, has achieved the biggest prize pool in all of eSports. But perhaps the most fascinating thing about the record-setting prize is that it's mostly being paid for by Dota 2 players who aren't even in the tournament.
The International is hosted by Valve, the makers of Dota 2. This year's event is being held in Vancouver, Canada. There's a bit of buzz around the 2018 tournament in particular, as a point system was implemented to determine which teams from the Major and Minor leagues of Dota 2 would be invited to participate in The Internꦐational. This change puts more "sports" into the eSport, and 🧸the giant prize pool only furthers its prestige.
Fans have been able to participate in the hype by buying The International Battle Pass. The battle pass is becom♏ing more and more common in free-to-play games as a way to offer bundles of perks to entice players to drop cash. The International Battle Pass is no exception, offering buyers everything from a game-changing🎀 new mode to silly cosmetic items like sprays and taunts.
But in buying The International Battle Pass, players are actively addiꦯng to the actual tournament's prize pool. The webpage for the pass states that "25% of all Battle Pass sales go directly to The International 2018 prizeꦑ pool." That player contribution is the very reason why the prize pool for The International is so staggeringly high. That means the other $23,373,783 came from the players and Battle Pass sales. With so much money in the pool, that means that the 18 highest-rankers will take something home.
Those winners will be revealed soon, as the tournament is already underway. While the obvious avenues of watching it, such as buying tickets and tuning into a livestream, are avail⛦able, As eSports continues to grow, it's certainly an exciting time to be a gamer.
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