What prize funds were on the international. How the prize fund of The International is stuffed. How does this happen
Taking into account the current prize pool of The International 2017, the sum of all the prize money played at the annual Dota 2 World Championships is approaching $80 million. Where the hell does all this money come from?!
On the MTS "Unlimited" tariff, you can watch streams on Twitch via the mobile Internet without taking into account traffic. And for those who prefer YouTube, there is the MTS "Tablet" tariff - also with unlimited access.
Surely many are worried about the origin of tens of millions of dollars in prize money at the World Championships. Perhaps this will be news to some, but the entire “bank” is voluntarily stuffed by the fans of the game themselves. Of course, this was not always the case, and the developers had to do an enormous amount of work before the financial flow began to fill their pockets. Yes, that's right, because The International prize pool is only 25% of the amount that Dota 2 users spent on in-game items, while the remaining 75% goes to Valve accounts.
What is a compendium
The first two tournaments in 2011 and 2012 were held solely at the expense of the developers themselves, but starting from The International 2013 they pleased all players with a special interactive in-game book called the "compendium", which allowed making predictions for matches, voting for your favorite players, tracking them success, and most importantly - to receive awards for it. In addition, Valve set special cooperative goals for the community, upon reaching which all owners of the coveted book were entitled to additional treasures. Thus, everyone was interested in the growth of the prize fund of the tournament. For the first compendium, they managed to get a little more than $ 5 million, of which a quarter went to The International's treasury.
After testing the waters and realizing that fans of the game are willing to pay money for a variety of virtual "goodies", Valve added the ability to upgrade the compendium the following year. Everything is tritely simple: if you want more treasures and rewards, buy levels. It is important to note that the presence of a virtual book absolutely does not affect the balance of the game, but only decorates its appearance.
What is Battle Pass
To collect tens of millions of dollars, you need to surprise Dota fans with something new every year. Therefore, starting from The International 2016, the compendium has become part of the battle pass, which significantly surpasses it in terms of functionality. The developers have implemented special in-game quests in the Battle Pass, for completing which you can get battle points, thereby pumping the level of the pass, and also added a betting system and weekly battle cups where you can have fun with friends, and much more.
Basically, it's okay if you call the battle pass a compendium, or vice versa, as these are interconnected things. Now the compendium contains all the detailed information directly about The International itself, while the battle pass gives you the opportunity to diversify your pastime with your favorite game in pursuit of treasures and rewards.
How much does it cost and how to buy a battle pass
The Starter Reward Pack included with the Tier 1 Battle Pass will cost $10. The developers also offer to save a little by buying the compendium of the 75th level at a price of $37. But the main part of The International prize fund is replenished by buying levels:
- 5 levels - $2.5; 11 levels - 5 $; 24 levels - 10. $
All tools can be purchased either in the game client Dota 2, or through Steam. The prize pool of The International 2017 will be replenished until the last map of the tournament is played.
For the most desperate donors, Valve has prepared real rewards. So, for example, upon reaching level 1000 of the compendium, you will receive a reduced copy of the main trophy of the tournament - the champion Aegis, and for level 2000 - a figurine of Roshan, the main neutral monster in Dota 2.
Battle Pass Purchase Statistics at The International 2017
At the moment, the owners of the compendium for the 2017 World Dota Championship are more than two million players. Half of them have no higher than level 100 of the compendium, although the main rewards are in the interval between the 150th and 250th levels. But there are also such moneybags who are ready to invest in virtual "buns" even the cost of a good "compact car". For example, the owner of the Newbee team has upgraded his compendium to level 55620, which is about $23,000 in dollar terms!
P.S. By the way, the battle pass can be given as a gift, so if you have friends who often like to play Dota 2, then know that the best birthday present is a compendium! Firstly, you will save time on thinking and searching for a present, and secondly, you will definitely not lose. Trust me, it works!
MTS gives our readers the opportunity to call Pudge and Invoker - for this you just need to dial a free number: 8-800-234-69-19. Yes, at the other end of the tube, 100% real Pudge and Invoker - to record their appeal, the actors of the official dubbing of the game, Vladimir Antonik and Daniil Eldarov, returned to familiar images again.
After the end of Epicenter Moscow 2017, the total prize fund of all official eSports tournaments exceeded $100 million. It took six years to overcome this mark. Despite the fact that Valve gave a strong start to the gaming discipline with the help of a stunning $ 1.6 million prize pool by the standards of 2011, the reward at regular major international tournaments remained in the range of $ 10 thousand to $ 20 thousand for more than a year. Only in November 2012, as part of the fourth season of the G-1 Champions league, held in Fuzhou, China, the $ 50 thousand bar was conquered. And already on the eve of The International 2013, the first "hundred-thousander" took place in Shanghai - Perfect World "s Super League played between participants $ 170 thousand
Who and how much earns in Dota 2. The long-awaited test about money
The total prize fund of all Dota 2 tournaments will soon break the $100 million mark. Do you know in whose pockets these funds ended up?
The entire Dota community was surprised by the announcement of the first season of the Nexon Sponsorship League in Seoul in 2013. At that time, no one knew anything about Korean teams and players, and the organizers announced that more than $ 100,000 was drawn. It should be understood that at that time such money was not played almost anywhere. Therefore, the first legionnaire went to South Korea for the second season, which was Jimmy "DeMoN" Ho, and for the third - a whole team of Team Zephyr.
For the first time in the West, $ 100,000 was raffled off as part of the MLG Championship Columbus at the end of 2013 - the very tournament thanks to which Arthur "Arteezy" Babaev became famous all over the world. With small steps, but at a steady pace, the prize pools of international competitions set new records every six months or a year, and at the moment several tournaments have already been held without the support of Valve, the total prize pool of which exceeded $ 500 thousand and even $ 1 million.
Distribution of tournament funds by years; the figure for 2017 is indicated as of June 12 and continues to grow.
As can be seen from the diagram, positive dynamics persist from year to year, but the situation may still change this year. Before the start of The International 2016, the total prize fund of all tournaments for the first half of the year was $9.95 million, while a little more than $7 million was played for the same period of the current year. Of course, there are several more tournaments ahead of us that will add to the standings several hundred thousand dollars, but to reduce such a solid handicap before the start of the World Cup in Seattle will not work. In fact, the difference is just in the reduced number of majors: in 2016, tournaments in Shanghai and Manila were already held by the summer, while in 2017 - only in Kyiv. But if The International 2017 prize pool sets a new record, things may fall into place.
Campaigns, chests and prestige. TI7 Prize Pool Growth Catalysts
When the TI prize pool is suspended, Valve immediately pulls another trump card from its sleeve. What else dota 2 developers have in store.
Of the $100.3 million raffled, the largest part is the contribution of the dota community - $52.6 million, or 52.45%. But from the moment Valve started holding majors, the organizers of other tournaments forgot about earning money directly, that is, through the sale of in-game tickets, compendiums or items, since seasonal battle passes from developers forced everyone out. Now the main source of income for tournaments is direct income from broadcasts and contracts with advertisers. For this reason, tournaments involving teams of the second and third tiers are now going through hard times.
It is equally interesting to find out who snatched the biggest pieces of the 100 million pie. Two bronzes and one gold at The International, a victory at DAC 2015, as well as successful performances at majors and other major tournaments, allowed the Evil Geniuses to break far ahead of their closest pursuers. The top three also included the Chinese champion Aegis holders - Wings and Newbee. Fourth place for four-time OG Major winners. The top ten is closed by the only representative of the CIS in this list - Natus Vincere with $ 3.65 million. In total, 21 teams earned more than a million dollars in DotA, including Virtus.pro ($ 2.7 million) and Team Empire ($ 1 million).
The core of the American DotA. The story of Saahil "UNiVeRSe" Arora
Professional career and the secret of success of the richest "doter" of the planet Saahil "UNiVeRSe" Arora.
In terms of personalities, the richest esports player in the world is a complex player. Evil lines Geniuses Saahil "UNiVeRSe" Arora. His pocket was filled with $2.82 million in prize money. Following them in the ten moneybags were the players of the champion rosters EG and Wings, who earned the lion's share of their fortune by winning the World Championship. Gustav "s4" Magnusson ($1.4 million) and Klement "Puppey" Ivanov ($1.37 million) stand out among the leaders of the list, who occupy 13th and 15th places, respectively. Unlike the rest, they collected their fortune bit by bit, because none of the tournament victories brought them more than $300 thousand. By the way, the captain of Team Secret was the first to earn $1 million in DotA in this way.
Boss among bosses, or the most titled player in Dota
The history of the formation of the legendary Dota player Clement "Puppey" Ivanov, who has dozens of titles and world records behind him.
It is worth paying attention to the fact that almost 40% of all money went to players from the Middle Kingdom, which are represented by the largest number in. The top three nationalities also include representatives of the United States and Sweden. Ukrainian and Russian players together earned just over $8 million. It is noteworthy that Pakistan closes the top ten, which is represented by only one player - Sumail "SumaiL" Hassan. Alone, the young talent managed to surpass the achievement of a dozen representatives of Singapore, Germany and even the Philippines.
There are more people who want to invest in eSports every day, so the mark of $ 100 million in the total prize fund of all tournaments is just the beginning. The main thing is that the quality of the championships themselves should grow in proportion to new material achievements. At the moment, many viewers are complaining about the overabundance of competitions with the participation of the strongest teams in the world, while it is difficult for the organizers of tournaments for mid-tier teams to function without crowdfunding. The settlement of these issues is one of the most important tasks that Valve will have to solve in the near future.
Group stage of the main esports tournament in Dota 2 starts tomorrow - August 2. But even before it started, The International 2017 managed to set a record - the largest prize pool in the history of the event. At the time of writing, it is $ 23,207,133. The team that takes first place will receive at least $ 10 million. And this is not the maximum: the exact size of the prize pool will be known only at the end of TI - August 12. And this means that it can become more by several million dollars. Especially for the site, the StarLadder team prepared a material about what the prize fund of The International was like at the beginning and how it is being formed now.
Dota 2- eSports discipline, which for many players has long ceased to be just a "game". Starting with a custom modification for Warcraft III , it peaked in the form of Defense of the Ancients, with regular tournaments and big enough prize money for 2011. The record prize for the discipline is $45,905 at ACE Dota Pro-league 2012 Season 1.
All this was just the beginning of a great story. In 2011, Valve took DotA outside of computer clubs by announcing The International 2011. The tournament was held at GamesCom 2011 in Cologne - at the same time, a completely new Dota 2. The prize fund exceeded any reasonable limits - $1.6 million No one then could believe that this was true. But it’s even harder to believe that now this amount is dripping into the “prize box” on a weekly basis.
How does this happen?
Every year since 2013, a special in-game item has been released for the tournament – previously it was the Compendium, now it is the Battle Pass. Its owners receive in-game items and rewards, and developers take 75% of the profits. The remaining 25% goes to the total prize pool of that same The International. Additional amounts come from sales of Battle Pass levels and treasures with exclusive items.
The developers have not changed their contribution to the prize pool since 2011 - it has been stable at $1.6 million. The increase is due to the efforts of the players, because the required level of the "Battle Pass" to receive all rewards is growing. So in 2014 it was 500, in 2015 - 1000, and in 2016 and 2017 - the 2500th level, for which the owner will have to pay up to $ 919 from his wallet.
Because no maximum level, there is no limit to donate. So a player with the nickname Archangel Yuji increased his battle pass to level 55,000 last year, and this year he did not limit himself to 100,000, having spent about $45,000 on the last one.
This year, on the first day of sales alone, the prize pool increased by $3 million. In the 87 days since the release of the TI7 Battle Pass, it has amounted to more than $23 million, which is $2,557,489 (11.92%) more than the record amount in the history of eSports. The record is $20.7 million and is also held by Dota 2, but TI 2016.
While the prize fund increases before everyone's eyes, Valve's income also increases proportionally, although it remains "behind the scenes". So, the net profit from Compendium in 2013 brought the company a little more than 3 million, and in 2016 it already exceeded 50 million!
Never before has the winning team of an esports tournament taken away more than $10 million in prize money.
These amounts are not comparable to the prize fund of the World Cup, but the winners' income already exceeds the prize money in the Tour de France, World Series of Poker and the world golf tournament. What can we say about other esports disciplines. The only competitor Dota 2 became in the top 5 League of Legends. In 2016, Riot games adopted the prize pool model from in-game sales and increased the Main Event prize pool to just over $5 million, which was previously $2,130,000 and has not changed since 2014.
The difference in payments is noticed in other disciplines. Esports analyst and journalist Duncan "Thorin" Shields tweeted:
1st place at TI7 is $10,000,000 right now.
The combined prize purses of all 11 CS:GO majors is $5,750,000.
The first place at TI7 now is $10 million. The total prize pool of all 11 CS:GO majors is $5,750,000.
Due to the ever-increasing prize money for eSports, there is increased attention: not only spectators come, but also sponsors. Sections devoted to "electronic" sports appear on large sports grounds; at the legislative level in many countries, video games are recognized as sports disciplines.
For The International, Valve came up with and implemented the largest crowdfunding campaign in the history of games. It not only minimizes the cost of organizing a tournament, but also creates a resonance among the gaming community. But in order for this system to hold from year to year, developers need to heat up the situation by increasing the amount.
In 2011, Na`Vi received $1 million in prize money for first place. Now the same amount is given to those who take 5th and 6th place in the tournament.
Last year, Valve set a direct goal for the community: if the prize pool of The International 2016 was greater than the prize pool of The International 2015 - which is $18,429,613 - all owners of the Battle Pass will receive Trust of the Benefactor 2016 - a treasure chest with in-game "goodies": from Immortals to a unique golden set of items for the hero.
This year, in order to keep up the pace, we had to raise the bar to the rarity of the Arcana, the most expensive and rare item in the store, which will never be obtained at the end of the tournament.
To increase the prize pool and reward the winner with a round sum of $10 million, 8 days before the start of the group stage, Valve added additional rewards for reaching level 2000 of the Battle Pass: an exclusive Roshan model.
Similar to the aegis, the player will receive a 8.5x9cm live replica of the in-game item and a unique in-game skin of Roshan himself, which, like the Aegis effect, will expire on May 1, 2018.
But, despite the growing numbers, the prize fund of The International is not growing so rapidly with each subsequent tournament. Perhaps $23 million in prize money is the bar at which the tournament will be fixed until the developers find another way to encourage players to spend more.
The International 2018 is the annual Dota 2 championship that closes the season. The championship does this not only with a consistently huge number of viewers, but also with the largest prize pool. Yes, Epic Games' $100M investment in Fortnite has become big news, but The International 2018 Dota 2 still has the largest cash pool for a single esports event.
The International prize pool has been growing since 2011. The championship even then could boast of a large prize pool of $1.6 million. In 2017, the figure reached a new peak of $24,787,916. Yes, that's almost $25 million for one tournament. Last year's winners, Team Liquid, are taking home $10.8 million in prize money. With this incredible event, Valve literally turned The International 2018 Dota 2 upside down.
And yet the question arises: where does all this money come from?
What is a prize fund?
The International's prize pool is the total amount of money that is awarded to all (18 participants annually) competing teams at the event. The winning team receives approximately 47% of common pool. Second place receives more than 17% of the remaining amount.
Where does the money come from?
Valve exposes the initial amount of 1.6 million dollars. This is not a bad price for a major esports tournament. This number is gradually growing thanks to the people who watch The International 2018 every year: Dota 2 players. For many, this has already become a tradition.
The $1.6 million starting amount is boosted by sales of the built-in Battle Pass. This is a digital compilation that Valve releases approximately three months before the start of each TI.
Valve is taking 25% of the Battle Pass sales and investing it in The International 2018 prize pool. By doing so, additional millions of dollars go to professional teams as rewards. It really increases interest among players and spectators.
What is a Battle Pass?
This is a particularly clever way of creating buzz around The International. Valve provides Dota 2 fans with many, many rewards. This year's Battle Pass is on sale for $9.99. The collection opens bonus game modes, in-game treasures, new music and cursor packs. As well as digital game card packs that allow fans to collect and build their own fantastic Dota 2 teams.
It's a whole bunch of digital goodies for dedicated Dota 2 gamers. As Battle Pass owners play matches, they earn points and level them up. Thus, more and more items and perks are unlocked.
It's not that hard to imagine Valve raising over $20 million. And remember, this is only a quarter of the total Battle Pass revenue. The rest, of course, goes straight to Valve.
What will the 2018 prize pool be like?
Unknown. At the time of this writing, the prize pool is $24,461,257. This is 2% less than last year's total. It is likely that the numbers will rise further. Depending on what the final price will be, the winning team will receive approximately $11-12M. If not more.
If the total prize pool for 2018 exceeds last year's, each Battle Pass winner will receive 10,000 bonus points. But if the figure reaches $30 million, players will receive another 10,000 bonus battle points. Valve encourages gamers in every possible way.
Battle Pass revenue collection continues until the end last day The International. There is still a lot of time until August 25, and the amount is likely to increase.
How does the prize fund grow?
Valve puts in $1.6 million each season. In 2011 and 2012, this was the entire prize pool. With the addition of the Battle Pass in 2013, the prize pool increased to $2,874,381.
The Battle Pass has become responsible for providing the lion's share of the prize pool. In 2014, the amount reached $18,429,613. In 2015 - $20,770,460. In 2017 - already $24,787,916.
Since 2011, the number of teams has grown from 8 to 18. But at the same time, the share of winners has also grown: if in 2011, each player received from $200,000, then in 2017 this figure reached $2,000,000.
Pros and cons
The astronomical amount of The International 2018 Dota 2 creates a lot of buzz around the event. The starting prize pool of $2 million is considered impressive for the vast majority of esports competitions. Only 20 tournaments in history could boast such a sum. As mentioned earlier, in The International, the share of each player from the winning team reaches $ 2 million.
The Battle Pass really attracts Dota 2 fans. It encourages them to keep playing Dota 2 and creates a lot of buzz around the championship. Players, literally, are responsible for the further fate of the prize pool.
What then is the main disadvantage? The biggest drawback is that the huge prize pool of the tournament makes other Dota 2 championships insignificant. Also, this may lead to a decrease in the salary of cybersportsmen. Players compete where they have more chances to earn - at The International. This leads to instability of the roster and adversely affects the overall ecosystem of discipline tournaments.
Over the past year, Valve has taken a lot of steps to grow the Dota 2 ecosystem. However, given how much noise the prize pool is creating around The International - and how much revenue it brings to the company - it's hard to believe that this system will change dramatically anytime soon.
