Dota 2‘s esports calendar is vast and all-encompassing, but by far the highlight of the year is The International, the largest celebration of the game we all know and love in the form of a huge tournament seeing squads from across the globe battle to destroy the other’s ancient.
Esports fans from other titles always swing by a Dota 2 stream or two during TI, with the event historically one of the largest in terms of prize pool. However, things changed in 2023 after a landmark decision from Valve to cut back on crowdfunding the event via the battle pass.
As a result, this year’s TI 2024 prize pool is lower than one would think. Here’s the prize pool for 2024’s edition of Dota 2‘s The International.
What is the Dota 2 The International 2024 prize pool?
The prize pool for TI 2024 is currently $2,537,371 USD according to the Dota 2 prizetac.kr tool, which tracks the total contribution made by players through the TI 2024 Compendium.
Not all of this prize pool is crowdfunded, with Valve throwing in $1.6 million of its own money as per usual. Otherwise, 25 percent of the money paid by players who buy the Compendium and any other associated TI products in Dota will be added to the pool. As of Sept. 6, the community had only just cracked half the amount Valve has thrown in so far.
This is a record low for the pinnacle event, which saw a switch-up to the approach of crowdfunding The International in 2023. With a plan to expand in-game content over the whole year as opposed to a single battle pass, the Compendium is targeted purely at fans of teams and players and doesn’t include your regular fare of cosmetic Dota 2 items, hence the hard drop-off in TI prize pools.
This has drawn plenty of criticism from both pro players and the community. With players choosing to spend on cosmetics via new events like Crownfall, there is less incentive for the wider community to contribute to the Compendium. As a result, 2023’s TI prize pool—a little above $3 million—was the smallest in over a decade.
2024 looks destined to go even lower, with last year’s Compendium purchases well ahead of this year’s target at the same time. Barring additional items added to the Compendium or a discount weekend, TI 2024 is on track to have a prize pool less than even the Dota Majors of old.
We’ll keep this piece updated throughout TI 2024 with the most up-to-date numbers available!
