The International (TI) is an annual esports championship for the five-on-five video game Dota 2. Valve, the game's developer, produces TI. It is the final event of the professional Dota 2 season and currently includes 16 teams. TI was first held in Germany at the 2011 Gamescom to promote the game's release. It was then held in Seattle, where Valve is based, until it began being hosted internationally again starting with TI 2018 in Vancouver.
The tournament's prize pool has been funded through in-game purchases since 2013. A quarter of all revenue from these purchases directly supports the prize pool. TI has the largest single-tournament prize pool of any esports event. Its largest prize pool reached US$40 million in 2021. The most recent champion is Team Falcons, who won TI 2025. OG, Team Spirit, and Team Liquid each have won two TI tournaments since the event began.
History
Valve announced the first edition of The International on August 1, 2011. Sixteen teams were invited to compete in the tournament, which was also the first time Dota 2 was shown to the public. Valve paid for the event, including a grand prize of US$1 million, and Nvidia provided the hardware. The tournament took place at Gamescom in Cologne from August 17–21, 2011. The event began with a group stage, where the winners of each of the four groups advanced to the winner’s bracket, and the other teams moved to the loser’s bracket. The rest of the tournament followed a double-elimination format. The final match was between Ukrainian team Natus Vincere and Chinese team EHOME, with Natus Vincere winning the series 3–1. EHOME received US$250,000, and the remaining 14 teams split the remaining $350,000.
In May 2012, Valve confirmed that The International would be held every year. The International 2012 took place at the 2,500-seat Benaroya Hall in Seattle from August 31 to September 2. Teams competed in glass booths on the main stage. The total prize pool was $1.6 million, with $1 million going to the winning team. The previous winners, Natus Vincere, lost 3–1 to Chinese team Invictus Gaming in the grand finals. In November 2012, Valve released a free documentary about the event, which included interviews with teams and coverage from the beginning to the end of the tournament.
The International 2013 was held again at Benaroya Hall in Seattle from August 7–11. Sixteen teams participated, with thirteen receiving direct invitations and the final three determined through two qualifying tournaments and a match at the start of the event. In May 2013, Valve introduced an in-game battle pass called the Compendium, which allowed players to contribute to the prize pool. A quarter of the revenue from the Compendium was added to the base prize pool of $1.6 million. The total prize pool reached over $2.8 million, making it the largest in esports history at the time. Kaci Aitchison, a news anchor, hosted the event, offering behind-the-scenes commentary and interviews. The tournament was viewed by over a million people at its peak through live streaming platforms like Twitch.
The International 2014 took place from July 18–21 at the KeyArena in Seattle. Eleven teams received direct invitations, while four spots were decided through regional qualifiers held between May 12–25. The sixteenth spot was determined by a wild card qualifier involving runners-up from regional competitions. Tickets for the event sold out within an hour of being available. The prize pool again broke esports records, reaching over $10.9 million. As a result, eight Dota 2 players became the highest-earning esports athletes, surpassing the top-earning player at the time, Lee "Jaedong" Jae-dong of StarCraft. The event was also broadcast on ESPN networks for the first time.
In April 2015, Valve introduced the Dota Major Championships, a series of four annual tournaments, one for each season. The Fall, Winter, and Spring Majors were sponsored by Valve but organized by third-party hosts in different countries, while the Summer Major was The International. This format was first used for the 2015–2016 season, featuring the Frankfurt Major, Shanghai Major, and Manila Major, followed by The International 2016. In the 2016–2017 season, the number of Major tournaments was reduced to three: the Boston Major, Kiev Major, and The International 2017. Starting with The International 2017, the number of participating teams increased from 16 to 18.
For the 2017–2018 season, Valve introduced the Dota Pro Circuit, a series of tournaments that awarded qualifying points. The eight teams with the highest point totals received direct invitations to The International 2018, while ten other teams qualified through regional tournaments. The circuit was created to make the selection process for direct invites clearer and more transparent. During the 2017–2018 season, the Dota Pro Circuit included nine Majors (excluding The International 2018) and 13 Minors.
The International 2020 was the first to skip a year due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Originally planned for Stockholm, Sweden, the Swedish Sports Federation refused to recognize esports as a sport, making it difficult for players to get travel visas. Valve later rescheduled the event and renamed it The International 2021, which was held in Bucharest, Romania, in October 2021. It set a record for the largest prize pool in esports history at $40 million.
The International 2022 had 20 teams and was held in Singapore in October 2022, with Tundra Esports winning the tournament. It was the first International to have a prize pool lower than the previous one, at $18.9 million, the lowest since The International 2015. The International 2023 took place at Climate Pledge Arena in Seattle, which was built on the same site as KeyArena, from October 27–29. In September 2023, Valve announced that the 2023 season would be the last season of the Dota Pro Circuit.
Format
With the exception of the first tournament, where all teams were invited, later tournaments use a combination of methods to select participants. Some teams receive direct invitations based on their yearly performance, while other spots are filled by teams that win smaller qualifying tournaments. The main event usually starts with a group stage where teams play against each other in a round-robin format, followed by a main event organized as a double-elimination bracket, where teams can lose twice before being eliminated.
Since The International 2013, the tournament’s prize pool has been mainly funded by players buying a special pass called the Compendium. This pass gives players exclusive in-game items and other rewards. Twenty-five percent of the money earned from yearly Compendiums goes directly to the prize pool. Player contributions are the main source of funding for the tournament’s prize money. Until 2022, each year’s tournament had a larger prize pool than the previous one. The International 2021 had the largest prize pool, giving $40 million (£29 million) to teams. Prize pools began to decrease by the mid-2020s; The International 2024 had the smallest prize pool since crowdfunding began, totaling $2,602,164.
The Aegis of Champions is a trophy given to the winning team of The International. The back of the trophy has the names of every player on the winning team permanently engraved. The Aegis is a shield inspired by Norse and Chinese designs, made from bronze and silver by the prop studio Weta Workshop. Small copies of the trophy are sometimes given to Compendium owners who reach a high level in the pass.
Media coverage
The main way International events are covered is through the video game live streaming platform Twitch. This is done by esports teams and staff who provide commentary, analysis, match predictions, and player interviews during events, similar to how sports events are covered. Many streams are available in different languages, mostly English, Russian, and Chinese. Sometimes, a "newcomer stream" is offered to help viewers who are not familiar with the game understand it better.
In 2014, Valve released a free documentary called Free to Play, which followed three players during the first International in 2011. In 2016, Valve started making a documentary series called True Sight, which is considered a spiritual successor to Free to Play. More episodes were made, showing the 2017, 2018, 2019, and 2021 tournaments. However, True Sight was discontinued after the 2022 tournament.