Along with games like Riot Games’ League of Legends, Valve’s DotA 2 is one of the more popular MOBAs around in the competitive scene. In fact Valve’s The International tournament had managed to raise a lot of money over the past couple of years, with the first tournament in 2011 offering $1 million in prize money.
The winnings were raised every year, with last year’s tournament offering up $2.8 million in prize money. That is a lot of money, but it seems that the stakes are even higher than ever because for 2014’s The International, Valve has managed to raise of $7 million in prize money. Yes, you read that right, a whopping $7 million, which is more than double last year’s winnings.
In fact a little over a week ago, the prize pool was at $6 million, which means that Valve managed to raise about a million in about 10 days which is mighty impressive. How Valve managed to raise so much money this year is by offering gamers rewards in exchange for donations. So instead of simply giving money away, Valve would be giving gamers something back in return in the form of in-game customization options, upgrades, new items, new features, and so on.
It’s an ingenious idea that allows players to feel like they’re actually part of the tournament itself, as opposed to just watching from the sidelines. For those interested in adding money to the prize pool, you can head on over to DotA 2’s website for the details. The International 2014 will be kicking off from the 18th-21st of July.