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The International
StatusActive
GenreVideo games
FrequencyAnnual
Location(s)Cologne, Germany (2011)
Seattle, Washington, United States (2012-2014)
Years active3
InauguratedAugust 17, 2011 (2011-08-17) - August 21, 2011 (2011-08-21)
Most recentAugust 7, 2013 (2013-08-07) - August 11, 2013 (2013-08-11)
Organised byValve Corporation
Websitewww.dota2.com/international

The International is an annual electronic sports Dota 2 championship tournament hosted by Valve Corporation, the video game developer behind Dota 2, in which sixteen teams are personally invited to compete. The tournament began as the debut of Dota 2 in August 2011 at Gamescom, with a total prize pot of $1.6 million and a grand prize of one million dollars.

Tournament history

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The International tournament area at Gamescom 2011

The International 2011

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Valve announced the first edition of The International on August 1, 2011. 16 teams were invited to compete in the tournament, which would also serve as the first public viewing of Dota 2, and it was streamed online with commentary in four languages; English, Chinese, German, and Russian. The tournament was funded by Valve, including the $1 million USD grand prize, with Nvidia supplying the hardware.[1][2] It took place at Gamescom in Cologne from August 17 to 21 the same year.[3]

The tournament started with a group stage in which the winners of each of the four groups were entered into a winner's bracket, and the other teams entered the loser's bracket. The rest of the tournament was then played as a double-elimination tournament.[4] The final of this first tournament was between Ukrainian team Natus Vincere and Chinese team E-Home, with Natus Vincere winning the grand prize after beating E-Home in three out of the four matches.[5] Runner's up E-Home won a second place prize of $250,000 USD and the other top eight teams split the remaining prize pool of $350,000 USD.[6]

The International 2011 serves as a focal point for the 2014 documentary Free to Play, which explores the lives of three of the players.[7]

Place Team Prize money
1st Ukraine Natus Vincere $1,000,000
2nd China EHOME $250,000
3rd Singapore Scythe Gaming $150,000
4th Denmark MeetYourMakers $80,000
5/6th China Invictus Gaming $35,000
5/6th Russia Moscow Five $35,000
7/8th Thailand MiTH.Trust $25,000
7/8th Europe Online Kingdom.Nirvana int $25,000

The International 2012

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A crowd watches as the grand finals of The International 2012 commence in Benaroya Hall, Seattle, Washington.

The International 2012 was announced in May 2012 and held during PAX Prime alongside Riot Games' League of Legends tournament.[8] The event was held at the 2,500 seat Benaroya Hall in Seattle from 31 August to 2 September, with teams situated in glass booths on the main stage.[9] The total prize pool remained $1.6 million USD, with $1 million USD for the winning team, and it was again broadcast in multiple languages.[10][11]

The previous winners, Natus Vincere, were beaten 3-1 by Chinese team Invictus Gaming in the final.[12] In November 2012 Valve released a documentary following the event online for free featuring interviews with the teams and following them from the preliminary stages through to the finale.[13]

Place Team Prize money
1st China Invictus Gaming $1,000,000
2nd Ukraine Natus Vincere $250,000
3rd China LGD-Gaming $150,000
4th China Team DK $80,000
5/6th China EHOME $35,000
5/6th Singapore Team Zenith $35,000
7/8th China TongFu Team $25,000
7/8th Malaysia Orange Esports $25,000

The International 2013

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Valve announced The International 2013 on April 25, 2013. It was again hosted at the Benaroya Hall in Seattle from August 7 to 11. The first team to be invited were the defending champions, Invictus Gaming. Sixteen teams participated, thirteen of which received invitations, and the final three being decided in two qualifying tournaments and a match at the start of the tournament.[14] On May 6, it was announced that an interactive compendium would be available for purchase, detailing and cataloging the progression of The International, in addition to allowing for extensive interactivity to be made. A quarter of the revenue from the compendium was added to the prize pool for the tournament, thereby extending the winnings of the participating teams.[15] Via the sales of interactive compendiums, The International reclaimed its previous title as the largest prize pool in electronic sports history, exceeding the two million dollar prize pool from the League of Legends Season 2 World Championship.[16] The total prizepool awarded to the winners was $2,874,381.

Place Team Prize money
1st Sweden Alliance $1,437,190
2nd Ukraine Natus Vincere $632,364
3rd Malaysia Orange Esports $287,438
4th China TongFu Team $201,207
5/6th China Team DK $114,975
5/6th China Invictus Gaming $114,975
7/8th Europe Fnatic $43,116
7/8th United States Team Liquid $43,116

The International 2014

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On March 31, 2014, Valve announced The International 2014, which would take place from July 18 to July 21 at the KeyArena, which is a venue with a significantly larger capacity than Benaroya Hall from the previous two years. Unlike the previous three events, there would be three tiers for admissions, including general admission, floor seating and VIP passes.[17] For The International 2014, eleven teams would receive direct invites, with an additional four spots determined by regional qualifiers taking place between May 12 and May 25. The sixteenth spot would be determined by a wild card qualifier between the runner-ups from the regional competitions.[18]

Secret Shop

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Starting with The International 2012, Valve decided to set up a shop inside the tournament venue of Benaroya Hall. The shop itself is named the Secret Shop, a reference to one of the in-game locations where players can purchase more powerful basic items. The shop sells various Dota 2 related merchandise including apparel, drink-ware, posters, character Plushies as well as SteelSeries computer accessories with a Dota 2 theme. Pieces of physical merchandise sold at the Secret Shop are also packaged with redeemable codes for digital rewards and in-game awards. Many of these virtual rewards include items used to customize characters and are only obtainable during the tournament itself and are generally seen as rarity within the game's community.[19] The Secret Shop was also present during The International 2013 and is expected to return during The International 2014.

Reception

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Community acceptance of the Secret Shop and its merchandise has been overwhelming positive, with some individuals purchasing merchandise in order to gain access to the exclusive online content. While much of the merchandise from past International tournaments has been restocked and is now available on Valve's online store page, select items sold at the Secret Shop are shown as sold out or unlisted.[20]

During The International 2013, Arsenio Navarro, a merchandise licensing representative from Valve, states that a lot of positive feedback has been given to more sophisticated apparel with subtler Dota 2 references and intends to push further in that direction.[21]

Weta Partnership

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Best known for their work in the Lord of the Rings, the New Zealand prop company, Weta, announced that they would be partnering with Valve to create and market collectible statues, weapons and armor from Dota 2 after working with Valve on various replica projects over the year 2012. During The International 2012, Weta showcased their range of DotA 2 collectibles as well as a brand new Championship trophy designed after one of the in-game items.[22] The tournament trophy, Aegis of Champions, has since become an iconic symbol in the subsequent International tournaments, the backside of the trophy engraved with the names and handles of each player on the first place team.

Media Coverage

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The primary medium for The International coverage is through the Internet. Throughout each year, tournament coverage is done by a selection of online gaming and e-sports organizations who provide live streaming, commentary and articles surrounding games in the progress, similar to sports commentators and analysts. Multiple commentators from North America, China, Russia, Ukraine and Korea were present at The International in both 2012 and 2013. It is also reported that there were over one million concurrent online viewers during The International 2013, many utilizing live streaming websites like Twitch.tv to watch from their homes.[23]

News Coverage

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KCPQ news anchor, Kaci Aitchison, acted as a host to The International 2013 and provided behind-the-scenes commentary and interviews with professional players and analysts before subsequently working on a news story outlining the event.[24] Paige Cornwell of The Seattle Times also wrote an article following The International 2013, saying: "The biggest sporting event in Seattle on Thursday wasn’t at Safeco Field or CenturyLink Field. It was at Benaroya Hall." [25]

References

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  1. ^ Sullivan, Lucas (1 August 2011). "Valve to hold $1,000,000 Dota 2 tournament at Gamescom". PC Gamer. Retrieved 22 February 2014.
  2. ^ Senior, Tom (10 August 2011). "Dota 2 Gamescom tournament to be streamed live on Dota2.com". PC Gamer. Retrieved 22 February 2014.
  3. ^ Miozzi, CJ (1 August 2011). "Valve Announces DOTA 2 Gamescom Tournament". Game Front. Retrieved 22 February 2014.
  4. ^ Senior, Tom (17 August 2011). "Dota 2: the tournament so far..." PC Gamer. Retrieved 22 February 2014.
  5. ^ Schiller, Jen (23 August 2011). "First Ever Dota 2 Championship Winner Revealed". Kotaku. Retrieved 22 February 2014.
  6. ^ O'Connor, Alice (22 August 2011). "Dota 2 tournament $1 million finals won by Na'vi". Shack News. Retrieved 22 February 2014.
  7. ^ Albert, Brian (March 21, 2014). "Free to Play review". IGN. Retrieved January 22, 2014.
  8. ^ Hafer, T.J. (11 May 2012). "The International Dota 2 Championships 2012 to be held at PAX Prime this August". PC Gamer. Retrieved 3 March 2014.
  9. ^ Schreier, Jason (4 September 2012). "Dota Dispatch: Watching People Play Video Games For $1.6 Million". Kotaku. Retrieved 3 March 2014.
  10. ^ Senior, Tom (11 June 2012). "Dota 2 International 2012 tickets go on sale tomorrow". PC Gamer. Retrieved 3 March 2014.
  11. ^ Nunneley, Stephany (31 August 2012). "The International Dota 2 Championships 2012 begins at PAX Prime". VG247. Retrieved 3 March 2014.
  12. ^ Sarkar, Samit (4 September 2012). "Dota 2 International tournament 2012 winners round-up". Polygon. Retrieved 3 March 2014.
  13. ^ Lahti, Evan (16 November 2012). "Dota 2 - The International 2 documentary video released by Valve". PC Gamer. Retrieved 3 March 2014.
  14. ^ Dota Team (2013-04-26). "The International". Valve Corporation.
  15. ^ Malloroy, Jordan (2013-05-07). "Dota 2 introduces 'Interactive Compendium' tournament companion". Joystiq. Retrieved 2013-05-09.
  16. ^ Martin (May 16, 2013). "Dota 2's The International 3 reaches $2m prize pool". GameSpot.
  17. ^ Williams, Katie (March 31, 2014). "Valve Announces Dates, Location, and Ticket Prices for The International 2014". IGN. Retrieved April 1, 2014.
  18. ^ Gaston, Martin (April 1, 2014). "Valve announces dates for Dota 2 tournament The International 2014". GameSpot.
  19. ^ "Promotional Items". Dota 2 Wiki. Retrieved April 1, 2014.
  20. ^ "The Valve Store". Valve Corporation. Retrieved April 1, 2014.
  21. ^ "Dota 2 TI3 Interview - Reaves interviews Secret Shop Valve staff Arsinia". YouTube. Retrieved April 1, 2014.
  22. ^ "VALVE AND WETA ANNOUNCE AGREEMENT TO CREATE COLLECTIBLE STATUES, WEAPONS AND ARMOUR FROM DOTA 2". Weta Ltd. Retrieved April 1, 2014.
  23. ^ Makuch, Eddie (13 August 2013). "The International hits 1 million concurrent viewers". Gamespot. Retrieved April 1, 2014.
  24. ^ Aitchison, Kaci (16 August 2013). "Video game heavy hitters pack Benaroya Hall". KCPQ. Retrieved April 1, 2014.
  25. ^ Cornwell, Paige (8 August 2013). "16 teams vie for $2.8 million in Dota 2 Championship". The Seattle Times. Retrieved April 1, 2014.
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Category:Electronic sports competitions Category:Recurring sporting events established in 2011 Category:Valve Corporation Category:Video game competitions

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