It’s on everyone’s minds – The International 10 is coming up in August as the biggest calendar esports event of the year. Celebrating competitive Dota 2 at the highest level, the prize pool of $40,018,195 is one which every industry pays respect to. Year after year this event has continued to soar. To help you understand, we’ve worked on a featured article describing The International History!
The International History – Beginnings in Cologne 2011
From the very beginning, Valve was always determined to show off Dota 2 through the use of a mesmerizingly large prize pool. All the way back in 2011, this was how the first version of the event kicked off in Cologne. Accordingly, held at Gamescom of that year, a large $1.6 million (which was incredible at the time) set the tone and distracted the entire esports industry.
Since then, The International has become a yearly phenomenon attracting top tier competitions and the largest prize pools in history. Below, find a quick list of all the essential details from year to year:
- 2011 – Cologne – $1,600,000 – 16 teams – Winners Na’Vi – Second EHOME
- 2012 – Seattle – $1,600,000 – 16 teams – Winners Invictus Gaming – Second Na’Vi
- 2013 – Seattle – $2,874,380 – 16 teams – Winners Alliance – Second Na’Vi
- 2014 – Seattle – $10,923,977 – 19 teams – Winners Newbee – Second Vici Gaming
- 2015 – Seattle – $18,429,613 – 16 teams – Winners Evil Geniuses – Second CDEC Gaming
- 2016 – Seattle – $20,770,460 – 16 teams – Winners Wings Gaming – Second Digital Chaos
- 2017 – Seattle – $24,787,916 – 18 teams – Winners Team Liquid – Second Newbee
- 2018 – Vancouver – $25,532,177 – 18 teams – Winners OG – Second PSG.LGD
- 2019 – Shanghai – $34,330,068 – 18 teams – Winners OG – Second Team Liquid
- 2021 – Bucharest – $40,018,195 – 18 teams – Winners TBD
A Prize Pool Matched by Viewership?
Indeed, although the prize is impressive, viewership is also very strong. Accordingly, thanks to data from Escharts, we have access to the viewership details. Bearing this in mind, we can understand the expectations set on TI10 by using The International History.
- 2017 – Peak Viewers 925,375, Average Viewers 418,266
- 2018 – Peak Viewers 1,205,979, Average Viewers 537,678
- 2019 – Peak Viewers 1,968,497, Average Viewers 738,873
It’s safe to say that the target number for this year would be a peak viewership of over 2,000,000. Especially thanks to the added excitement due to the cancellation from last year, it’s very likely that this will be achieved.
Besides statistics and figures, the competition itself is incredibly exciting!
The International History – Can OG Make it Three Times in a Row?
Here’s another storyline. Indeed, OG are a legendary competitive Dota 2 team. Being the only team to ever win The International twice and also, in a row, they have a tough order to replicate their performance once again. Entering this event. OG dominated the Western Europe Qualifier and placed fourth at ESL Summer.
Bearing this in mind, there are many competitors who can take on OG. Indeed, it’s quite likely that another team such as Team Liquid or Evil Geniuses join OG with two wins of their own. Accordingly, looking at the Dota Pro Circuit Rankings, the favoured teams are in fact Evil Geniuses and PSG.LGD. However, one thing everyone loves about The International is that there are always surprises.
Making Up For Two Years – A Key Event
In conclusion, we simply cannot wait for The International 10, especially after digging into this The International History. This event in particular has a lot to answer, especially following the struggle of the Dota Pro Circuit last year.
Indeed, TI10 looks to make up for two years of waiting. Here at esportsguide, we think it’ll deliver.
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