14 DAY TRIAL // It seems that all the major eSports competitions of the coming year will get bigger than normal prize pools and it is time for DOTA 2 to get a major upgrade from ESL, with an announcement that the prize money for the coming tournament series will increase to 1 million dollars (840,000 Euro), which will be offered to the teams that manage to perform best during a 12-month period.
Ulrich Schulze, the managing director of Pro Gaming at the organization, states, "ESL One is here to set a new standard for professional DOTA 2 events at this level. We’re dedicated to pushing the boundaries, and giving players from around the world more chances to make their careers as professional gamers is a key aspect of that."
The ESL also says that it will once again seek to bring DOTA 2 to some of the biggest and most iconic arenas around the world, after putting players on stage at both the Commerzbank-Arena in Frankfurt and the Madison Square Garden in New York last year.
As always, all matches of the coming tournament season will be offered live on Twitch, with commentary from professionals.
Recently, the ESL has also announced big plans for Battlefield 4 in 2015, with some big tournaments set to take place in both North America and Oceania.
The company also says that it is getting ready to organize the biggest Counter-Strike: Global Offensive event of the year.
eSports and MOBAs mix well
eSports are continuing to expand their audience and one of the genres that most players are interested in seeing played is the Multiplayer Online Battle Arena.
DOTA 2, created and sustained by Valve, is one of the main contenders in this space, but it needs to face tough competition from League of Legends from Riot Games and Heroes of the Storm from Blizzard.
The company is holding its own major tournament, called the International, which will also have a 2015 edition and gamers will probably get a few more game updates before all the details about it are officially revealed.
It will be interesting to see whether the ESL tournament series will manage to compete with the Valve event in terms of audience interest.