Dota 2 International Tournament 2014 News: Prize Pool Reaches $8.6M, Still Growing

Currently the 2014 Dota 2 International holds the record for the largest eSports prize in history, and astonishingly enough, it broke the record just a few weeks ago, at $5 million.

Valve, the maker of the popular PC software Steam and hosts of the tournament, receive a percentage of the money intended for the victors. This rapid influx of money is partly due to Valve and their ways to offer incentives and increase supporter donations.

Dota 2 is an increasingly popular MOBA (Multiplayer Online Battle Arena) game with a large multinational community and professional "eSports" base, suitable for annual tournaments which have been consistently recognized for their incredibly generous prize pools.

Click the following link to see just how much the pool has grown: Link

The prize pool increases as fans and players buy "The Compendium", a $10 program that features information on the competing teams and ways to evolve the Dota 2 experience. The Compendium allows players and fans to earn rewards by watching matches, collecting player cards, and making tournament predictions.

The tournament matches will be commentated and available to watch on live streams or within the client of the game. Dota 2 is free to play and download but allows users to earn or purchase only aesthetic changes. This ensures no player is disadvantaged, which highlights one of the game's core properties, balance.

This year the Dota 2 International will be held at KeyArena in Seattle, Washington from July 18-21.