TI10 Battle Pass drives prize pool over $10 million in 3 days

The International 10 Battle Pass has already hit another milestone.

The prize pool for TI10 has cleared the $10 million mark. This came less than 72 hours after the TI10 Battle Pass’ launch, with this milestone being reached faster than any other previous installment.

The success of the TI10 Battle Pass in its first few days is music to the ears of both Valve and pro Dota 2 players. 

Though The International Battle Pass is a consistent success, 2020 is an awkward year on multiple fronts. Valve indefinitely delayed The International 2020, removing the titular event from the equation for the foreseeable future. Alongside this delay are financial woes around the globe that could threaten Dota 2 players’ ability to slap down cash on skins and other rewards in a free-to-play game.

Despite those hurdles, The International 10’s prize pool is on pace to exceed those of previous years. Perhaps by a significant margin.

The TI10 prize pool sits at $10,250,069 as of this writing.

TI10 Battle Pass skins are driving force behind success

So why is the TI10 Battle Pass doing so well at this point? The answer is that it offers more and better skins than years past.

The International 2019 prize pool reached an amazing $34,330,068 last year. The only serious change between its battle pass and the prior year’s was that it included more unique limited edition skins.

Valve doubled down on that in the TI10 Battle Pass by offering three Arcana skins and two Hero Personas as high-level rewards. Included in this is the Windranger skin that likely would have been rolled out had the hero won the TI9 Arcana Challenge, as well as a new Arcana for Queen of Pain. The One True King skin for Wraith King was also available at launch for the battle pass, hearkening back to when the hero was known as Skeleton King.

There are also two Hero Personas, which functionally keep a hero’s abilities but turn them into a new character. The first is a Pudge persona that turns the hero into a giant stuffed toy. The other is a wildly popular genderbent Anti-Mage skin that replaces him with a new disciple of his, a woman named Wei.

The uncertainty surrounding the date of The International 10 makes it impossible to guess what the final tally will be. Regardless, beating out last year’s record seems like an inevitability given this quick start.