In 2021, the prize pool for Dota 2's biggest tournament, The International, was $40 million. This was the largest prize pool in the history of esports. Valve broke its own record set two years earlier when the prize pool was $34 million. However, this year, the prize pool for The International is only about $2.3 million. In this article, we will discuss how TI became the biggest tournament in the world in terms of prize money and why it has sharply decreased over the past two years.
How Was the Prize Pool So Large?
In 2013, Valve, the company that developed games like CS and Dota 2, as well as the Steam platform, decided to add a crowdfunding element to The International. This was made possible through the so-called Compendium. Anyone who purchased it gained access to interact with the tournament, such as predicting match results or supporting their favorite team. The concept was extremely simple: you pay $10, and 25% of all revenue from the Compendium goes to the TI prize pool, including the $1.6 million provided by Valve. The community's reaction was positive, and the prize pool size began to skyrocket:
- TI 2013 - $2.8 million
- TI 2014 - $10 million
- TI 2015 - $18 million
Valve added more and more exclusive in-game content and events, and by 2016, the Compendium had transformed into the Battle Pass. Players could get a lot of exclusive content that no one wanted to miss. As a result, players spent huge amounts of money on Dota 2, which also increased the prize pool. In 2021, the prize pool reached $40 million, marking a key turning point in TI history. After 2021, the prize pool was never as significant again. So, what happened?
Valve's New Strategy
The Battle Pass was an extremely profitable solution for Valve, as only 25% of the funds went to The International itself, and they earned about $120 million in 2021. However, Valve was dissatisfied with the amount of resources invested in creating large amounts of content that not every player could experience. This led them to make a big move in 2023. Valve announced that there would no longer be a Battle Pass for TI. Instead, the Compendium returned to the game, allowing players to earn some in-game rewards. In 2023, only $1.7 million was added to the TI prize pool, excluding the seed money from Valve, making it the smallest prize pool since 2014.
Although they knew it would bring in less money, Valve assured the community that their focus would be on creating year-round content that all players could enjoy throughout the year, rather than dedicating everything to the exclusive paid Battle Pass. Valve also quickly reminded the community that they were still committed to making The International the biggest esports event every year, but now they would focus more on the event itself rather than the Battle Pass.
Community Reaction
Valve's new strategy divided players into two camps. Professional players spoke quite optimistically about these changes, noting that it could be a refreshing change that would allow Valve to make the game better and attract more players. Considering that the Dota 2 player base has somewhat stagnated since 2015, a change in strategy is necessary if they hope to keep the game alive.
Others were more skeptical of these changes, believing that with a smaller prize pool, TI would have less significance or that it was the prize pool that made Dota popular. It's incredibly hard to argue with this statement, as even at the peak of its popularity in 2021, The International was not among the top 10 most popular esports tournaments, lagging behind League of Legends and PUBG mobile.
Conclusion
Valve's change in strategy for financing The International is one of the most significant events in Dota 2's history. On the one hand, this decision could positively impact the game's development and support a more stable player base in the long term. On the other hand, the reduced prize pool raises concerns about the future prestige of the tournament and its significance in the esports community. We are already seeing the first changes, such as the introduction of Crownfall, but only time will tell whether Valve can find a balance between the interests of players and the professional scene while keeping The International at the top of global esports events.
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