DotA 2 The International 4 Reaches $10,000,000 Prize Pool

Yes, I typed it right. DotA 2 reaches a huge $10,000,000 prize pool mark on its annual tournament, The International 4.

Typing those zero's gave me goosebumps. This is the current prize pool of the game I have started playing eight years ago (2006)-- that's DotA 1 though. As I remember, the local LAN Tournaments back then had prize pool of P2,500-P10,000. That's very far from the digits above, converting approximately to P438,000,000.

The initial prize pool listed was $1,600,000. That's now very far from the ten million mark and currently the largest in e-sports history beating their previous record of $2,800,000 prize in the last year's The International 3 and another popular esport, League of Legends.

Lion with its Immortal Item

The Support of Dota2 Community

The prize has reached this massive amount with the help of the players around the globe through the purchase of The Compendium. It is an in-game virtual booklet that contains relevant information on The International Tournament such as the event location, qualifiers, player profiles, and added bonuses that are significant to the players of the game. Some bonuses included are the evolving battle booster that helps leveling-up faster, the Immortal Items which are supremely rare, and custom visuals and effects which will enhance the player's gaming experience. It can be bought at a price of $9.99 or around P500. $2.50 dollars goes to the prize pot while the remaining goes to Valve.

I bought one Compendium myself through the use of Steam Wallet at a popular video game store. There are other retailers that also sell them with cash deposit, Globe GCash and many other options as modes of payment if you do not own a Credit Card.

The Prize For The First Place

At this current prize pool, the TI4 Champions would likely take home a whooping $5,000,000 if the distribution will be the same as last year (50% for the first place). The others in the top 8 will receive fair amount of share from this. But one thing's for sure, they will be rich and popular boys.

The International Dota 2 Championships will happen on July 18-21 at Seattle, Washington. It still a few weeks from now and we will be closely monitoring how high this prize pool will be. But that's not all that matters. As a gamer, it's a breathe of fresh air seeing eSports soaring high in the scene as the community and Valve both give their share in a healthy way making this game continue and linger still in the coming years.



For more ifo:
The Tournament Format , The Compendium