A Look at Dota 2's Prize Pools Since Its First "The International"

The Iternational Dota 2 Championships

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Updated:

11 Dec 2023

It’s safe to say that since The International’s inaugural year, 2011, the prize pool and the tournament’s popularity has increased at a considerable rate, and as TI7 almost comes to a close for the year, let’s take a look back at some of the previous conquerors:

The first tournament, which took place during the five-day trade show GamesCom in Cologne, Germany, saw Ukrainians Natus Vincere (Latin for Born to Win) take home a staggering $1 million cash prize after defeating Chinese team EHOME 3-1 in the finals. The total prize pool for that year was $1,600,000.

2011 TI Champions: Natus Vincere

The total prize-pool in 2012, held in Benaroya Hall, Seattle was the same as the previous year, $1,600,000. This year, Chinese team Invictus Gaming (iG) picked up the $1million cash prize after beating previous winners Natus Vincere 3-1.

2012 TI Champions: Invictus Gaming (iG)

The prize pool for the 2013 tournament, held in the same venue as the previous year, saw a considerable prize-pool increase to $2,874,380. Swedish team Alliance took home the $1,437,190 cash prize after defeating second-time runner ups Natus Vincere 3-1.

2013 TI Champions: The Alliance

The 2014 edition of The Tournament was held in the multi-purpose 17,000-capacity arena the KeyArena, where it’s been held ever since. That year, China-based Newbee beat fellow Chinese team Vici Gaming 3-1, and took home a colossal $5,025,029. The prize-pool for that year was a hefty $10,923,977.

2014 TI Champions: Newbee

In 2015, the final prize pool amounted to an immense $18,429,613. US-based Evil Geniuses took home the $6,634,661 grand cash prize that year after beating CDEC Gaming 3-1.

2015 TI Champions: Evil Geniuses

Chinese team Wings Gaming were the victors of 2016, taking home $9,139,002 after defeating Digital Chaos 3-1. The prize pool for that year was an unbelievable $20,770,460.

2016 TI Champions: Wings Gaming

The current prize pool for TI7 is a massive $24,367,928. The Chinese have dominated the Western teams with little effort this year, so chances are the country will be looking at a 4th win.

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James hails from Manchester, UK: the rainy north of England, where writing and indeed gaming are some of the few available pastimes. He moved to Barcelona in 2014 where he teaches English.

Gamer Since:

1991

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