We still don’t know the prize pool of The International 12

The International 2023 will be the 12^th edition of Dota 2’s world championship.

The previous 11 editions were spectacular and many of them gave us numerous beautiful memories. Some of the best Grand Finals have also been immortalized by Valve in their True Sight series.

The TI tradition

One characteristic that has come to define The International is the prize pool. The first edition of the tournament, which took place in 2011, had a prize pool of $1.6 million. The second edition offered the same amount.

But starting with the third edition, Valve came up with a brilliant idea: to give the community the chance to contribute to the prize pool by purchasing some additional in-game content. In other words, a kind of DLC. A quarter of the proceeds obtained in this way went to the prize pool.

And that’s how TI went from offering $1.6 million in prizes to offering $40 million at its 10^th edition. In 2022, the amount decreased considerably for multiple reasons, one of which was the disappointing Battle Pass released by Valve.

Some months ago, Valve started to make a series of announcements. More recently, we learned that the Dota Pro Circuit will be abolished in 2024. But previously we also learned that the Battle Pass will end much sooner.

As a result, The International 12 did not have a Battle Pass and we do not yet know what the prize pool of the tournament is going to be. In previous years, by now it was clear how large or small this prize would be, and what rewards were up for grabs for the community.

Many of these rewards consisted of epic skins that can greatly enhance a player’s visual experience when competing in Dota 2 matches. But everything died with the Battle Pass. So now we have no quests to complete and no Battle Pass to level up. Because of this, The International feels quite different this year.

The sense of anticipation, which the entire Dota 2 community experienced ahead of previous TI editions, seems to be missing. On the bright side, the game itself has changed tremendously for the better, providing a much more sophisticated experience to the MOBA connoisseurs.

IceFrog and his team are doing wonderful things to make Dota 2 the best MOBA that’s ever been played. But what about its esports side? What about The International and its prize pool?

Header: Valve