More than $16 million will be on the line next month for a competition at Key Arena, but not in the way you might expect.
Some of the world’s top video gamers will compete in Seattle for a six-day tournament hosted by Valve called The International that begins Aug. 3.
The massive tournament is held for players of Valve’s free-to-play game Dota 2 and will sport a prize pool worth more than $16.6 million when it kicks off next month — that’s already $5 million more than last year’s pool, which set the previous record. This year’s pool is also still growing by the minute.
The total payout will exceed the prize purse of a number of major sporting events, including the Masters, the Tour de France and the Kentucky Derby.
Valve raises money for The International’s prize pool with crowdfunding. After first contributing $1.6 million to the pool, it chips in $2.50 after every time someone buys an in-game collection of items for Dota 2 called the the Compendium that costs $9.99 and offers a number of benefits to its owners. Players can also purchase points to upgrade their Compendium, and Valve contributes a percentage of all those purchases to the pool as well.
The 2015 tournament, Valve’s fifth for Dota 2, will offer the biggest payout in the history of eSports, the fast-growing field of competitive video games played in front of big crowds. Tickets to this year’s Dota 2 tournament at Key Arena sold out within one hour. As another signal of eSports’ rise, ESPN even broadcasted the tournament last year.
Dota 2 is played by two opposing teams, made up of 5 players — 16 total teams are participating in this year’s tournament. Each player controls a hero, with a particular set of special abilities and statistics, which they can augment by purchasing items and leveling up during the game. The first team to use their combined powers to destroy an Ancient at the heart of their enemies’ base wins.
Bellevue-based Valve also announced today that it is partnering with Fathom Events to host The International viewing parties at more than 400 movie theaters across the nation. More information and tickets here.
