By Ajith Kumar
Dota 2 is an online multiplayer battle arena video game developed and published by Valve Corporation which is free to play. Dota 2 is played between two teams of 5 members each, with each team’s objective is to defend their own separate base on the map. Each of the ten players would be independently controlling a powerful character known as a “hero”. During the match, the players collect experience points and items for their heroes to successfully battle against the opposing team’s heroes in PVP( player versus player) combat. A team wins by being the first to destroy a large structure located at the center of the opposing team’s base, called the “Ancient”.
Annual Dota 2 Esports tournament hosted by Valve Corporation goes by the name “The International”. The first tournament took place in Cologne, Germany in 2011 with a prize pool of $1.6 million. The first time ever a gaming tournament had a prize pool worth more than a million dollars. The second international was held in Seattle in 2012, for the 3rd International Valve introduced an interactive, digital “compendium” which fans could purchase to follow the event and contribute to the prize pool; which raised the prize pool to $2.8 million with $1.2 million added from the compendium purchases. The 4th International was yet again hosted in Seattle in 2014 with the continued practice of compendium sales and ultimately the record for having one of the largest prize pool in eSports history with $11million. The 5th international took place in 2015 again at Seattle with a prize pool of $18million. The 6th and the 7th international yet again broke the record for largest prize pool crossing $20 million. This year the 8th edition of the international took place at Vancouver, Canada with a prize pool of $25million which makes it the largest prize pool ever for an eSports tournament.