Dota 2 is among the most successful Esport titles worldwide. Players for sure enjoy playing Dota 2, given the fact that the game is free to download. Therefore, players can easily access the game, which is not the case with most online games. The International, mostly known as TI, is a yearly tournament planned by Valve. After increasing the number of hosted events and founding the Dota main championship, Valve ensured that the International was integrated into its structure.
There’s one thing that makes this video game stand out from the rest of the games available on the market. The prize pool is what sets apart Dota 2 The International from other games. So far, The International is the only game that has managed the biggest prize pools in the esports industry for every single event. Year by year, the prize pool keeps increasing, which brings us to the question, why are the prize pools for Dota 2 The International so large? It is time to figure out why.
Everything You Need To Know About Dota 2 The International Prize Pools And Why They Are So High
What is really a prize pool? If you are looking to understand the Esport industry much better and learn more about Dota 2 The International, this is probably a question you have asked yourself. Well, The International prize pool simply refers to the sum of money awarded to the competing teams at an esports event. The winner of the competition takes home forty-seven percent of the total prize pool while the second winner is awarded seventeen percent of the prize pool money. A share of the prize pool is also given to the eighteen squads participating in the competition.
The International prize pool comes from Valve and the fans of the game. For instance, Valve contributes $1.6 million into the pool, and the money increases from there. The amount rises due to fans involvement.
Fans crowdfund the starting sum of 1.6 million through what we call in-game Battle Pass sales. An in-game battle pass is basically a compendium that is usually released by Valve three months before each tournament; The International, that is. With the accumulated battle pass sales, Valve throws to the prize pool at least twenty-five percent of the sales accrued. This contributes substantially to the increase in the prize pool funds.
In simple terms, a battle pass is a way Valve uses to hype the game by allowing fans to pay for rewards or play to get rewards. Once a battle pass sells, so much is unlocked. Bonus game modes, digital packs of player cards, cursor packs, and new music is unlocked for players to come up with Dota 2 teams based on their preferences. The rewards are like the Dota 2 betting rewards offered to anyone who wins a bet. The battle pass usually sells for $9.99, and the rewards are worth buying the pass. The goodies will have you buying more than one battle pass.
After buying a battle pass, you have the chance to interact with the compendium; you can play matches and earn extra points. Playing matches results in the unlocking of more and more levels which come with more digital goodies and perks that are worth it for any Dota 2 fan. Additionally, as a fan, you have an advantage when it comes to buying the battle pass since you can boost your progress by paying your way up the chart.
For example, you can buy the 75 battle pass from the word go at $36.99, then start buying chunks to boost your level as you continue playing. Through the Battle Pass, Valve ends up collecting so much money for the prize pool, and that’s not so hard to do since eager fans will be tempted to buy battle pass times and again. The more the battle pass sales, the higher the prize pool gets.
This means that Valve does not have to necessarily ask sponsors of the game to fund the prize pool since that can now be done through the use of a Battle pass. This is different from other games on the market, which have to ask sponsors such as hardware manufacturers and Esports betting sites to help fund the prize pools. Neither Intel, Nvidia, AMD or any Dota 2 betting site has anything to do with it.
The popularity of crowdfunding has made it possible to have a boom in prize pool money. Valve has continued to ensure that they offer in-game items to their wide range of fans as a way of increasing the general size of the prize pool for each TI event. We know that there are games surpassing Dota 2 The International in almost everything, but when it comes to the prize pools, no game in the Esport industry has yet managed to beat Dota 2.
After Valve introduced crowdfunding in 2013, the prize pool increased from $1.6 million in 2011 and 2012 to $2,874,381. Since then, the prize pool has kept getting bigger and bigger. In 2014 the pool shot up to $10,931,103 and then kept increasing yearly.
One thing that brings buzz about the game is the growth in prize pools and how they are so high. The battle pass is one thing Valve did right in influencing fans and keeping them engaged and interested in the game. This is because fans enjoy buying the battle pass. After all, they know they will get rewards in the long run. If you’ve been asking why the Dota 2 The International prize Pools are so large, then now you know why. It is due to crowdfunding which is a result of a battle pass sold to fans.
Final Thoughts
Why are Dota 2 Prize Pools so high? The answer is simple. They are high because of the available battle pass that fans buy to get rewards in the competition. Crowdfunding contributes to the increase in the total amount in The International prize pool. If fans buy as many Battle pass, the prize pool funds increase, and the cycle continues.
