The International 2024 To Take Place In Copenhagen

Valve has announced that their 2024 iteration of the most prestigious Dota 2 tournament, The International, is set for Copenhagen, Denmark. The company has also revealed details on how direct invitations and qualifications will work. 

The International 2024 https://t.co/Zj81olRlVZ #TI2024 #Dota2 pic.twitter.com/F9GPn75zqc

— Wykrhm Reddy (@wykrhm) March 9, 2024

The International Venue And Dates

The Dota 2 team has disclosed the venue of The International 2024, being the Royal Arena located in the South area of Denmark’s capital city. The indoor arena is able to hold up to 17,000 fans, and has been used for numerous Counter-Strike 2 events, such as the BLAST Premier: Fall Finals in 2022, and the upcoming PGL Copenhagen Major in 2024.

Though the dates of the event have not been finalized, it is expected to occur in September, 2024. Esports journalist Arseny Kuzminsky checked the Royal Arena’s schedules, and revealed that the venue had no planned events from August 30 to September 27 and September 27 to October 19, which could be possible dates for The International to run. 

Royal Arena in Copenhagen has no planned events on:

Aug 30 – Sept 27
Sept 27 – Oct 19

These are the possible TI2024 dates. pic.twitter.com/rF5x1t8f0o

— Arseny Kuzminsky (@_koozya) March 9, 2024

How Will Teams Qualify For TI?

Valve has revealed on the Dota 2 blog that the event will have 16 participants, unlike last year’s TI having 20. The competitors will qualify for Dota 2’s biggest stage through various methods, such as direct invitations, regional qualifiers, and open qualifiers. 

In the past few iterations, the majority of Dota 2 teams secured their invitations to The International through Dota Pro Circuit points, earned by regional leagues and Valve’s Major tournaments. This system left only a couple of slots left for regional qualification. 

With the recent abolishment of the DPC system, Valve will return to their roots and follow how invitations worked for the first few years of The International. The invited participants will be announced leading up to the event, and will be determined by the team’s overall performance throughout the year. 

Though it wasn’t made entirely clear on how a “team’s performance” would be measured, it is highly likely that international tournaments will matter more than intra-regional tournaments, since cross-regional events will generate more reliable information and data. 

Teams who do not make the cut of getting invited will have to go through open and regional qualifiers. The best teams of the region will most likely be invited to the closed qualifier, while lower-profiled teams will have to battle through the open qualifier. 

Midas Mode Is Back?

In the same blog post, Valve also hinted rumors that the Midas Mode tournament could make a return to Dota 2. Midas Mode is a tournament hosted by Moonduck Studios, an English broadcasting studio featuring familiar names such as SUNSFan, syndereN, Purge, and SirActionSlacks. 

The tournament does not follow the concept of a regular Dota 2 tournament, instead, adding a new concept and game mode to spice things up. On top of normal Dota 2 gameplay, participants will have to go through strange challenges, and must gather “Moonbucks”. 

Doing standard things such as picking or banning heroes will cost teams Moonbucks, while randoming and completing different bounties will help teams earn Moonbucks. All proceeds of the tournament were donated to charity.

Overall, Midas Mode is an out of the ordinary Dota 2 tournament, but is a good way to raise awareness and donate to a good cause.