Valve Announce The International 4

April 1, 2014

With the game tournament season starting to heat up, Valve have today announced the dates and location for their fourth major Dota 2 tournament, The International.

The event will take place on July 18th-21st 2014, situated at KeyArena at Seattle Center. Eleven teams will be invited directly, while others will be able to qualify for a spot by winning one of the four regional qualifiers. Runners up of said qualifiers will be competing in Seattle for the final spot. While Valve haven’t announced any details on prizes, they have announced ticket prices, ranging from $99 General Admission, to $499 VIP tickets – which will allow you to watch all six days of the playoffs (formerly the Group Stage), as well as have access to the event’s after party. Tickets go on sale via Ticketmaster from 9am AEST on the 5th of April.

Last years tournament, which took place at the smaller Benaroya Hall in Seattle, saw a prize pool of nearly $3 Million USD, with the eventual winners Alliance taking home close to $2 Million USD. The prize pool set a record for the largest prize pool for a eSports competition, beating $2 Million USD offered as part of the League of Legends Season 2 World Championship.