The annual Dota 2 tournament (“Dota 2”) started in the United States on October 12. Seattle was chosen as the venue for The International 2023 (TI12); many events of this line were previously held there. It is expected that such a location will help Valve more closely control all the processes of the event. This year, for the first time in 10 years, the prize fund of the competition didn’t reach and $3 million. This amount consists of sales of the in-game compedium by gamers and an additional $1.6 million from Valve. Last year’s prize pool for The International was $19 million. How the eSports event is going is in the Izvestia article.
The International 2023: schedule
The International is considered the first and largest eSports tournament in the Dota 2 discipline. The event was first held in 2011 in Cologne. Absolutely all events are organized with the support of the developer company Valve. Winning the tournament is a prestigious achievement among Dota 2 fans.
TI12 starts with a two-phase group stage (October 12-15), which in 2023 was called Road to the International and will not formally be considered part of the tournament itself. In the first group stage, 20 teams are divided into four quintets in which they play matches in a round-robin format using best-of-2 rules, where winning each game is worth one group stage point. In the second phase, each team will play only one match in the best-of-3 format (a meeting up to two winning maps). The winners will receive slots in the upper playoff bracket, the losers in the lower bracket.
The playoffs will take place on October 20-22, October 27-29 in the classic double-elimination format with matches up to two victories. In addition to the monetary reward, the winning team receives the Aegis of Champions – a bronze and silver shield with a design on the front side depicting the confrontation between the light and dark Dota 2 teams.
The International 2023: where to watch, teams
You can watch the live broadcast of the competition in Russian on the official Russian-language Dota 2 channel on Twitch or on the official Dota 2 channel on YouTube. In addition, Valve allowed rebroadcasting to everyone. Because of this, many popular streamers watch tournaments on their channels and comment on the gameplay. Thus, TI12 is covered by Dota 2 analyst and commentator Yaroslav Kuznetsov (NS).
The total number of teams participating in The International 2023 is 20. Of these, 12 teams received an invitation to the tournament due to their high results in the Dota Pro Circuit season, another 8 teams made it to the competition through regional qualifiers – they became the best in their regions.
Russia leads in the number of participating teams and players, setting a record in the history of The International. 20 cybersportsmen from Russia are participating in the tournament. They play as part of Virtus.pro, 9 Pandas, BetBoom Team and Team Spirit. The latter won The International 10 in 2021 and took home $18 million in prize money. The team also scored several big wins this year, including first place at the Riyadh Masters 2023 along with $15 million in prize money and a win at DreamLeague S21. At the end of the first day of the TI12 championship, Team Spirit won all six maps and advanced to the playoffs.
What is the prize fund made up of: 2023 failure
In 2013, the developers integrated an interactive compedium – this is an in-game item, a quarter of sales go to the prize fund. The creators, in turn, start raising the fund in the form of a donation of $1.6 million.
The prize fund of the first tournament in 2011 was unprecedented for eSports and amounted to $1.6 million, but since 2013 it has broken the record for the amount of prize money every year – in 2021 the prize fund exceeded $40 million. The 2023 fund size represents its lowest performance in 10 years. The organizers were able to raise only $3 million. The reason for such a modest amount compared to previous years is Valve’s refusal to use the usual battle passes. Previously, players could obtain rare items, arcana, and effects.
Yaroslav Kuznetsov believes that Valve will not return to the old prize system. According to the analyst, Valve wants commercial tournaments to compete with each other next year and increase their own prize money. “If the prize money at Inta is $5 million, although it doesn’t even have $3 million yet, then the sheikhs won’t accelerate much, they don’t need it. They had $15 million at Riyadh Masters 2023, and in CS, in my opinion, $1 million. Why? And because for CS, a million dollars is the usual prize money, no one is making money there,” a Cybersport commentator quotes.
For an esports event, $3 million in prize money is still huge, but within the gaming community it looks like a flop. All because of the bar that The International has maintained all these years, collecting the largest prize money in the industry. For most participants, it is much more important to win and become the owner of the Aegis, because this is much more prestigious than a monetary reward. The Aegis of Champions opens up new paths and opportunities for gamers.
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