DOTA 2 Sets $20 Million Prize Pool, En Route to Become the Biggest e-Sports to Date
It is time again to choose between "Radiant and Dire" and annihilate other "Ancients" base as DOTA 2 targets a conservative $20 million pool prize to surpass DOTA 2's e-sports event in 2015 called "The International," which collectively breached a little over $18 million. Even the lesser Dota 2 Asia Championships held in Shanghai raised through compendium sales a prize pool of over $3 million.
With two weeks to go before the 2016 main event kicks off at the KeyArena in Seattle, Valve's team-based battle game has a more lucrative offer to lure players from around the world as it initially put up $1.6 million to launch Tournament 2016, but the remaining $18.4 million was sourced from revenue generated from sales of in-game Battle Pass. Reports said that the amount is only 25 percent of the total revenue, and the rest will go directly in Valve's coffers, amounting to over $55 million.
Some cosmetic items, quests, bonuses and battle level bundles are exclusive to Battle Pass 2016, luring players from around the globe to spend in order to make their characters stronger than competitors. Battle Pass will also result to a better standing when playing for The International.
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The sixth installment of the annual The International is now, by acclamation, the most lucrative e-sports tournament of the year, especially after Valve's four lesser tournaments that showcased $3 million prizes apiece, dubbing the events as Dota Major Championships. Valve proved successful in their crowdfunding approach to raise funds for its tournaments, with E-sport Dota 2 overshadowing even the prizes for physical sporting events like the Super Bowl (football), Masters Tournament (golf) and Tour de France (cycling).
Technically, "League of Legends" by Riot Games boasts a larger player reception and holds more e-sports competition, but it is not similar in terms of funding and the magnitude of prizes. Another MMORPG, "Overwatch," also held an introductory tournament over the weekend with a $300,000 prize, thanks largely to the growing industry of e-sports and the barometer set by Valve's Dota 2.
Meanwhile, live video game streaming of DOTA 2 is available at Twitch.tv, complete with personnel who will provide on-site analysis and player interviews. It is still unclear though if television platforms such as ESPN in the United States, Sport1 in Germany, TV 2 Zulu in Denmark, Xinwen Lianbo in China, Astro in Malaysia and TV5 in the Philippines will join the coverage like the previous year.
