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Dota 2's The International 10 champions will win a whopping US$18 million

OG's Jesse
OG's Jesse "JerAx" Vainikka holds the Aegis after the team won the International Dota 2 Championships in Shanghai on August 25, 2019. (Photo: STR/AFP via Getty Images)

The prize pool breakdown for Dota 2's The International 10 (TI10) has already been revealed, with the winners of this year's iteration of the game's annual world championship tournament taking home the grand prize of over US$18 million.

The champions of TI10 will claim exactly US$18,208,300, as well as the coveted Aegis of Champions to serve as proof of them being the best Dota 2 team in the world. The tournament's first place prize makes up 45.5 per cent of its US$40,018,195 total prize pool.

The five players that win TI10 may each get to take home over US$3.6 million, but this is assuming that their support staff and organisation are not taking a cut of their winnings.

While every team that qualified for TI10 will surely want to take home the grand prize, they will still win big even if they fall short. The second-placed team in the tournament will earn US$5.2 million, getting into the Top 8 guarantees a team at least US$1 million, and even getting last place will earn a team US$100,000.

Here's the full breakdown of TI10's prize pool:

  • Champions: US$18,208,300

  • 2nd place: US$5,202,400

  • 3rd place: US$3,601,600

  • 4th place: US$2,401,000

  • 5th-6th place: US$1,400,600

  • 7th-8th place: US$1,000,500

  • 9th-12th place: US$800,400

  • 13th-16th place: US$600,300

  • 17th-18th place: US$100,000

TI10's grand prize is a massive step up from that of previous years. TI9 in 2019 awarded US$15.6 million out of its US$34.3 million prize pool while TI8 in 2018 gave away US$11.2 million out of its US$25.5 pot to its champions.

Both TI8 and TI9 were notably won by European juggernauts OG, who made history by becoming the first-ever team to raise the Aegis of Champions in back-to-back years and will be looking for a three-peat in TI10.

The jump in the amount of money given to TI10's champions appears even bigger when compared to the last time a non-OG team raised the Aegis of Champions. TI7 in 2017 was won by Team Liquid, who took home US$10.8 million out of the tournament's US$24.7 million prize pool and were OG's opponents in the grand finals of TI9.

TI has repeatedly set the record for the biggest prize pool in all of esports since its first-ever iteration in 2011, which awarded CIS team Natus Vincere US$1 million out of its then record-setting US$1.6 million prize pool.

How The International's prize pool is funded

The second iteration of TI the year after retained its US$1.6 million pot, before 2013's TI3 had its prize pool increased to US$2.8 million through its interactive Compendium.

With every purchase of the TI3 Compendium, 25 per cent of the revenue generated was added to the tournament's base prize pool of US$1.6 million.

The practice of increasing TI's prize pool by adding 25 per cent of the sales of each tournament's accompanying Compendium or Battle Pass has persisted through the years.

The amount added of money added with each successive iteration of TI has only grown through the fervent and unwavering support of the Dota 2 community for the biggest annual event for their game.

TI10 features 18 of the best Dota 2 teams in the world competing for the lion's share of its massive prize pool and the right to be called world champions.

The tournament is set to begin on 7 October and will run until 17 October, with its main event being held in the Arena Națională in Bucharest, Romania.

TI10's main event was originally planned to feature a live audience. However, Dota 2 developer Valve Software has since redacted this stance and refunded all tickets sold to the event due to the continued rise of COVID-19 infection rates and the subsequent introduction of new restrictions in Romania.

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