14 DAY TRIAL // Valve confirms that the prize pool for its upcoming Dota 2 The International 2015 competition has already surpassed 5 million USD (4.4 million EUR), and is showing no signs of stopping just yet, as more and more fans are buying the digital compendium for the upcoming contest.
Dota 2 is a trully global phenomenon with tens of millions of players every month enjoying Valve's multiplayer experience. It's no secret that, while the game is free-to-play, Valve is making a huge profit by selling cosmetic items and other things.
Dota 2 The International 2015 is looking great
After having broken records and surpassed expectations last year, when the community raised the prize pool for Dota 2's The International tournament to the highest in eSports, the 2015 edition is looking set to go even higher.
After commencing the sale of the digital compendium for the upcoming tournament last week, Valve's website already shows that 5.2 million USD (4.6 million EUR) now represent the prize pool for the large competition.
To put things into perspective, Valve itself is pledging just 1.6 million USD (1.4 million EUR) of that amount. The rest was contributed by fans who bought the digital compendium for the upcoming Dota 2 tournament.
The item costs 10 USD/EUR and 25% of each transaction goes directly into the prize pool. As such, while the new prize total is quite large, Valve's general profits are even higher.
Lots of rewards and stretch goals are present
In order to spur contributions, the studio is offering plenty of rewards for Compendium owners, not to mention various stretch goals.
Already fans have unlocked one Immortal Treasure, complete with some stellar items for various Dota 2 heroes, as well as cursor packs, votes for the next Arcana set, special effigies, loading screens, emoticons, and more.
Considering that The International 2015 is taking place in August, you can expect the prize pool to reach even bigger goals. Right now, the stretch goals reach 15 million USD (13.3 million EUR).