The International 2019 ticket sale dates are announced, prices are up

Tickets to the most-awaited event of the year’s Dota 2 calendar will be made available on May 24.

This year’s The International will take place in the Asian region for the first time. From 2011 to 2017, the biggest esports tournament in the world was held in Seattle, Washington. Last year, Valve took the event outside of the United States and brought it to fans in Vancouver, Canada.

Now, The International 2019 will be close to the heart of its Asian fans as it arrives at the Mercedes-Benz Arena in Shanghai, China.

The International 2019 tickets will go on sale beginning Friday, May 24. Fans can purchase tickets for CNY 400 for a two-day bundle of weekday tickets. The weekend bundle goes for a higher price of CNY 2099.

Valve also announced some good news for the players who supported The International 2019 Battle Pass and Dota Plus. Dota Plus subscribers and Battle Pass owners will be getting a unique access code for use in the Dota 2 game client.

Early access codes are given to fans who have active Battle Pass and Dota Plus subscriptions before May 21. This coincides with Valve’s announcement with regards to the upcoming ticket sales.

This code can be used to purchase tickets before the ticket sales open to the general public. However, purchases are limited to two tickets per transaction.

From 12:00 pm to 1:00 pm (China Standard Time), eligible buyers from China with access codes can buy event tickets via Damai. Ticket sales will open to all Chinese citizens at 1:15 pm CST.

For fans outside of China, tickets will be available on Universe starting at 9:00 pm CST. The first hour will be allotted to Dota 2 players with early access codes.

Surprisingly, ticket prices for this year’s The International are more expensive than last year. Last year, tickets for the first four days were priced $95, well below this year’s $144. Weekend tickets were sold at $190 during The International 2018. Now, they are going for approximately $304.