Dota 2
Dota 2
Evil Geniuses bests IG, as China struggles at MDL Chengdu Major
Steven Rondina
Evil Geniuses might just be the team to beat at the MDL Chengdu Major. In its playoffs debut, the North American squad toppled Invictus Gaming with a 2-0 win. The victory is a massive one for Evil Geniuses, guaranteeing the squad a top-six finish at the event worth 900 Dota Pro Circuit points. Even if the team is eliminated from here, it puts them in a strong position for earning …
Dota 2
4 teams eliminated on day 1 of MDL Chengdu Major playoffs
Steven Rondina
With the first day of the MDL Chengdu Major’s playoffs complete, four teams have been eliminated from the event. Gambit Esports, Team Spirit, Team Adroit, and Team Unknown share a 13th-place finish. That earns each team a $12,500 prize alongside 100 Dota Pro Circuit qualifying points. For Team Adroit and Team Unknown, the outcome isn’t surprising. The Southeast Asian and South American squads qualified for the event despite having a …
Dota 2
T1 confirms new Dota 2 roster for DreamLeague Leipzig Major
Steven Rondina
T1’s foray into Dota 2 hasn’t gone well to this point, but the organization is hoping to turn things around for the DreamLeague Leipzig Major. A new T1 roster has appeared on the official Dota 2 major registration page that brings together a solid group of players: Christian-John “Skadilicious” Abasolo James “XemistrY” Lee Lee “Forev” Sang-don Kim “Febby” Yong-min Johan “pieliedie” Åström This also marks an almost complete overhaul from …
Dota 2
beastcoast Dota 2 player hospitalized during MDL Chengdu Major
Olivia Richman
beastcoast dropped its first match of the MDL Chengdu Major but their loss may have had less to do with their skills and teamwork, and more to do with the squad feeling under the weather. The organization’s president, Brian Anderson, posted a photo of himself on Instagram wearing a black surgical mask in a Chinese hospital lobby. “Work in esports, they said. It will be fun, they said. Now I’m in a Chinese …
Dota 2
MDL Chengdu Majors opening matches and groups revealed
Steven Rondina
The MDL Chengdu Major is just a few days away and Mars Media is ready to get fans hyped. The organizer has revealed the groups and opening matchups for the event, which kicks off on November 16. The groups will play out in the standard Dota Pro Circuit format of four GSL groups. The top two teams of each group will begin the playoffs in the upper bracket, while the …
Dota 2
One Esports Dota 2 Invitational talent lineup, team list revealed
Steven Rondina
ONE Esports is looking to make a big splash with its upcoming Dota 2 tournament and has put together a strong crew of casters to match its star-studded lineup of teams. The organizer announced on Twitter that it will be bringing in most of Dota 2’s most prominent casters and analysts for the event. Jorien “Sheever” van der Heijden will be the main desk host, with Dominik “Black^” Reitmeier, Trent …
Dota 2
Invictus Gaming win Dota Summit 11, head to MDL Chengdu Major
Steven Rondina
Invictus Gaming is the champion of the Dota Summit 11 minor. The Chinese squad takes home the $72,000 top prize and more importantly earns the final spot in the MDL Chengdu Major. They closed out the tournament by taking a dominant 3-0 victory over Chaos Esports Club. Right at the start of game one, Invictus Gaming looked ready to sprint to the finish line. Hu “Kaka” Liangzhi was all over …
Dota 2
The International 2020 is headed to Sweden’s Ericsson Globe
Olivia Richman
As The International 2019 was coming to a close in Shanghai, information on next year’s edition of The International was revealed. Valve announced that next year’s Dota 2 championship would take place in Stockholm, Sweden. The city’s mayor, Anna Konig Jerlmyr, said that Stockholm was “honored” to host the 10th International Dota 2 tournament in an announcement video that played at TI9. “The International is a celebration. The celebration of …
TNC Predator qualifies for WESG 2019 Finals with win over 496 Gaming
gabhernandez
Dota 2
TNC Predator’s hot streak continues. The Dota 2 squad was tested in the World Electronic Sports Games 2019 Southeast Asia Finals but ultimately maintained its winning streak and added another trophy to its mantel. This adds to what has already been an incredibly strong start to the 2019-2020 Dota 2 season for the team. The competition wasn’t especially stiff for TNC, as they faced several mid-tier teams such as Vietnam’s …
Jinsoo becomes the first Auto Chess Invitational champion
gabhernandez
Dota 2
Jin Soo “Jinsoo” Park took home $450,000 for his first-place finish at the 2019 Auto Chess Invitational. The 2019 Auto Chess Invitational was a three-day tournament held in Shanghai, China. The tournament boasted a prize pool of $1 million USD, a massive figure for what was the first major international tournament for the game. A total of 32 hopefuls from different regions around the world came together to compete for …
Quincy Crew signs with Chaos Esports Club before Dota Summit 11
Steven Rondina
Dota 2
The Quincy Crew have finally found themselves a sponsor in Chaos Esports Club. The organization announced the signing of the North American team on its official website. “Our organization was born in Dota 2, and it is with great excitement that we announce we will be continuing the fight for the Aegis of the Immortal this season with the addition of Quincy Crew to Chaos EC,” Chaos said in a …
Team Secret reveals new team, returns at DreamLeague Leipzig Major
Steven Rondina
News
Team Secret is getting ready to return for the 2019-2020 Dota Pro Circuit season, but they’re making a few changes before they return to action. The organization revealed its new roster for the upcoming season. Longtime mid laner Yeik “MidOne” Nai Zheng is departing the team alongside Secret coach Lee “SunBhie” Jeong-jae. Filling in those gaps are former Team Liquid members Lasse Aukusti “MATUMBAMAN” Urpalainen and Lee “Heen” Seung Gon. …
MDL Chengdu Major caster, analyst lineups announced
Syed Mujtaba Naqvi
News
Beyond The Summit has announced the talent lineup for the upcoming MDL Chengdu Major. The list includes familiar faces for Dota 2 fans, such as David “LD” Gorman, Jorien “Sheever” van der Heijden, and Owen “ODPixel” Davies. The MDL Chengdu Major is the first major of the 2019-2020 Dota Pro Circuit season and it will see 16 of the best teams in the world competing for the title, as well as …
Dota 2 update brings Fast Queue to ranked matchmaking
Steven Rondina
Dota 2
Valve continues to struggle when it comes to Dota 2 ranked matchmaking and the publisher is rolling out another new solution. The latest Dota 2 update implemented a new way to queue for ranked games in the form of Fast Queue. The new system serves to speed up the ranked matchmaking experience, which has been mired of late by brutally long queue times. “We know that queue times have increased …
Highest earning esports players in Dota 2, Fortnite, League, CSGO
Olivia Richman
Dota 2
With the esports industry said to be worth $1.1 billion this year, it’s hard not to wonder what the teams themselves earn or how much individual players make. While salaries and the like are difficult to come by online, one thing that can help measure the success of a team or player are tournament earnings. The International 2019 had a record-breaking $34,330,000 prize pool, while the Fortnite World Cup had …
Dota 2 Outlanders Update set to arrive after MDL Chengdu Major
Steven Rondina
Dota 2
Dota 2’s long-awaited Outlanders update is coming out soon, but don’t expect an exact date just yet. The Dota 2 subreddit has been overwhelmed of late by fans of the game imploring Valve to discuss their plans for the Outlanders update. Valve has heard those pleas and offered a general timeframe for when the update will be released. That is, it will come at some point after the MDL Chengdu …
Dota 2 now sees lowest average player count since 2014
Olivia Richman
Dota 2
Over the last 30 days, Dota 2 has seen the lowest average player count the game’s had since January 2014. The 30-day average that makes up October thus far is 398,566. According to Steam Charts, this is 5,000 more players than Dota 2’s lowest player count of all time back in 2014. Ever since that January, Dota 2’s player count has continued to climb. In fact, it’s never dipped below …
Dota 2 pro gets first car by winning MVP award at ESL One Hamburg
gabhernandez
Dota 2
Another Dota 2 player has nabbed a brand new Mercedes-Benz car. TNC Predator captain Park “March” Tae-won was bestowed the MVP award after his team won ESL One Hamburg 2019. The prize for this achievement is a new Mercedes-Benz car. He joins ESL’s Dota 2 Mercedes-Benz Club, which also includes Kim “Febby” Yong-min, Alexey “Solo” Berezin, and Clement “Puppey” Ivanov. “I actually don’t have a car. I’ve never had a …
TNC Predator win ESL One Hamburg, prepare for MDL Chengdu Major
Steven Rondina
Dota 2
TNC Predator is looking very good right now. The enduring Southeast Asian contender took first place at ESL One Hamburg and posted arguably the best tournament performance of its storied history. The team completed the victory by defeating Gambit Esports in the finals with a 3-2 score, and looks like a serious threat heading into the MDL Chengdu Major. The first four games of the grand finals had an interesting …
These are the five best-earning teams in all of esports
Syed Mujtaba Naqvi
Dota 2
Esports prize pools have grown over the years to the point that organizations have taken in tens of millions over the course of their histories. According to data from Esports Earnings, Team Liquid, OG, Evil Geniuses, Fnatic, and Newbee are the top five teams with the highest overall earnings. These are all accomplished organizations, though many of them are primarily bolstered by their Dota 2 teams. Team Liquid has the highest …
Few games have proven to have the resilient popularity enjoyed by Dota 2. The multiplayer online battle arena, or MOBA for short, has been among the biggest and most successful projects released by gaming giant Valve, and it continues to enjoy great popularity to this day.
That popularity has endured despite a great number of changes that have been made to both the game itself and to the communities surrounding it. The competitive title’s history reaches all the way back to another game created and published by another developer, but with Valve now leading the way, Dota 2 seems primed to last well into the future.
From Blizzard to Valve, Dota 2 continues to evolve
While know today as one of Valve’s key game properties, Dota 2 has its origins in a real-time strategy game developed and published by famed video game company Blizzard. One of the franchises that keyed Blizzard’s success and reputational growth in the games industry is WarCraft, which today is best-known for the popular massively multiplayer online role-playing game (MMORPG) World of Warcraft.
But prior to the success of World of Warcraft, the high-fantasy franchise was experienced through a series of RTS games. The third main title in that series, WarCraft 3, provided players not only with a great experience right out of the box, but also with the opportunity to heavily modify the game and its functions, and to play modified versions of the experience as custom games online with other players.
The most popular of these custom game modes was arguably Defense of the Ancients, or DotA for short. This custom game mode saw two teams of players face off against each other with strong individual champion characters, as opposed to building out complex home bases and developing broad armies of diverse units.
It was an entirely different way to play the game, and it proved so popular that would eventually give birth to an entirely new genre of video games: the MOBA genre.
The continuation of the original DotA became Dota 2, a project developed under the guidance of famed developer and publisher Valve. Flush with success from online marketplace Steam and its own franchises including Half-Life and Portal, Valve was more than willing to invest in this new and innovative game type.
The International sets Dota 2 apart
While there have been many other competitive games created and released since, including other popular MOBAs such as Riot Games’ League of Legends, Dota 2 has stood apart for remaining true to its roots and for massive competitive events like The International. First held in 2011 for the purpose of bringing together disparate competitive teams from all around the world with more than $1 million on the line, the esports tournament quickly grew into the biggest such event of each calendar year.
One of the main drivers behind that immense growth was the upwards trajectory of the tournament’s prize pool. Partially funded by Dota 2 players and esports fans, the prize pool for The International began increasing in 2013 and eventually ballooned to a massive total of over $40 million by the time 2021 rolled around. For the groups of players and coaches who climbed this mountain and won its top prize, it was a truly life-changing event.
For varied reasons, Valve eventually soured on running the event itself and on the idea of having so much money filtered into one specific event. Prize winnings were dropped significantly in 2022, and even further for the 2023 and 2024 events. But despite the prizes on hand no longer being quite so astronomical, The International still boasts a prize in the low millions, and it remains the biggest event on the Dota 2 competitive calendar and arguably on the greater esports calendar across all games.
