The International is approaching, and in October it will be hitting venues in Seattle as the top Dota players battle it out for the title (as well as significant prize money).
We’re providing all the info you need before the tournament gets underway, and previewing which teams have a shot at the International Dota 2 title, to be decided by the end of October 2023.
In 2022, Tundra Esports won the title in impressive style, with a 3-0 victory in the final, and convincing wins all the way through the tournament. Tundra’s lineup for 2023 includes Skiter, Nine, 33, Saksa, and Sneyking and they will be looking to repeat previous glories.
What to Expect From The International 2023
The main event The International is actually the name of the grand final which is played over one weekend, from Friday, October 27th to Sunday, October 29th.
The Road to the International is the name for the preliminary rounds where we work out who gets to take part in the grand final event, this year to be held at the Climate Pledge Arena in Seattle.
Financially, this is one of the biggest tournaments in esports. It has become a massive event that will see thousands attending throughout the tournament. Money is raised by sponsorship and ticket sales, and some financing is provided by the organizers, Valve. Plus, there is plenty of money changing hands in other ways such as gambling.
Gambling on esports is growing, and the industry is now worth billions annually. Players are now gambling on many markets in Dota 2 Matches so there are options to back teams to qualify for the playoffs, to win outright, or to win their individual matches on the way.
The gambling industry has helped the esports scene in general with sponsorship and access to streaming and previews for the tournaments. The International could be one of the most popular esports events ever for gambling, helping to put more money into the industry.
The International’s specific prize money pool is yet to be announced. However, the prize pool for last year’s tournament in Singapore was a stunning USD 18,930,775.
Tundra Esports won $8,518,822 for their victory in the tournament, Team Secret got $2,461,033, Team Liquid got $1,703,810 and $1,135,835 went to Team Aster for fourth place. The International has the power to make millionaires as well as global stars.
Dota 2 was one of the most popular esports in 2022, but The International tournament has a lot to do with this. Statistics show that there was a big spike in users around October at the time of the tournament. Hundreds of thousands more players got involved in October compared to prior months. We expect this to be a similar trend in 2023.
Going to See The International in Person
If watching online isn’t enough for your tastes, and you consider yourself a true superfan of Dota 2, then you can go to see the event in person.
The International moves around venues but as we’ve already mentioned, it will be in Seattle this year. There is a huge following of esports in the US, and this continues to grow, but a lot of people will even be flying from other countries to see the tournament.
The group stage and playoffs (12th to 22nd October) and the final of The International (27th to 29th October) will be played with live audiences in 2023. This is one of the reasons for changing the name of each of the sections of the tournament and using The Road to the International to differentiate the sections.
Tickets are available for the events through Ticketmaster, and they take place over three weekends so it is easier for more people to attend. The earlier rounds are at the Seattle Convention Center’s Summit.
Who is Taking Part in The International?
There are 20 esports teams in total. Nouns, Key’d Stars, Thunder Awaken, Entity, Quest Esports, Virtus.pro, Azure Ray, and Team SMG all made it through regional qualifiers which took place earlier in the year.
These qualifiers will be joined by Team Liquid, Gaimin Gladiators, Tundra Esports, 9Pandas, Evil Geniuses, LGD Gaming, Shopify Rebellion, Talon Esports, Beastcoast, Team Spirit, TSM, and BetBoom Team. These were all invited by the organizers of the tournament.
Throughout the group stage and playoffs, the games will all be best-of-three, until we get to the final where it is a best-of-five to see who will win the tournament overall.
Conclusion
If last year is anything to go by, Dota 2 will be huge in October. There will be more players online, as well as plenty of people logging in to watch on Twitch and other online platforms. This is one of the biggest events in the esports calendar, and Seattle is ready to put on a wild show.
