Valve broke the prize pool record for an esports event once again as players kept throwing money into their battle passes, boosting The International's prize pool to over $40 million.
Dota 2's The International is the game's most prestigious tournament of the year as it's not only pitting the best teams in the world against each other but also promising the biggest raw prizes in esports.
Since its inception, TI has been steadily growing when it comes to the prize pool. The tournament from 2014 had $9.3 million in the bank and the number kept growing every year since then.
TI 2019 reached an amazing $32.7 million which many saw as the peak since it was an obscenely large amount of money and these purses have to start plateauing some time. Well, 2020 is not that time.
Due to Covid-19 ruining the fun and economies all over the world since people had to stay away from each other for so long, many industries postponed their events and Valve followed suit. TI 2020 was delayed but the battle pass that infused the tournament with the majority of the prize money kicked off as scheduled but it was just extended beyond the period one might have expected.
This change may have contributed to the prize pool growth since players had more time to spend money on the pass.
Whatever the final deciding factors turned out to be, TI 2020 prize pool surprised the previous one in big fashion as it reached $40 million on the last day.
Considering the circumstances, it is unlikely TI 2020 will happen this year but even if it gets postponed, there is little doubt the organisations will gladly jump into it for the chances of winning bigger than ever in the history of esports.
