TI11 prize pool was just 6.45% of total battle pass money

If Valve used the original percentage for The International 2022, the TI11 prize pool would have been more than $73 million.

Now that The International 2022 and Diretide combo battle pass is over, Dota 2 fans can now roughly calculate how much money Valve earned from the release. According to Team Secret’s calculations, Valve pulled in an insane amount of money. But because of the new distribution, the prize pool was a pittance compared to what it once was.

These stats show that The International 2022’s prize pool was only 6.45% of the total revenue earned by the battle pass. For reference, previous TI battle passes gave 25% of all revenue to the prize pool. If this year followed that same system, the prize pool of TI11 would have been just over $73,250,000. 

It’s worth noting that that number is not explained by the organization, so the actual amount of revenue from the battle pass could be different. While levels are open info, the free battle pass given away before TI11 did not contribute to the prize pool. If this analysis doesn’t account for this, the real number could be substantially lower.

While Dota 2 fans, and especially pros, are shocked, it seems like Valve intended for this to be the case. The most recent TI battle pass was released much closer to the event than in recent years, and more than half of the content was saved until after the tournament concluded. TI11 champion still took home the year’s biggest esports prize with $8.5 million, but that theoretical 25% prize would have produced a grand prize of just under $33 million.

What will the prize pool of future The Internationals look like?

With the new revenue split system introduced by Valve, the prize pool for future The Internationals will be much lower compared to TI10. 

For as much as fans and pros may complain, this is the most successful battle pass for Valve in the history of Dota 2. Total earnings absolutely eclipsed the 2020 battle pass, which was around $160 million. In fact, Valve may allow even less time for The International 2023 battle pass with a similar division between the event itself and the winter seasonal event. If that is the case, the prize pool could shrink for another consecutive year. This somewhat falls in line with the prize pools for this year’s Dota Pro Circuit, which has not changed since the circuit’s 2021 introduction.

On the bright side, The international is still far and away the more lucrative yearly event in esports. Tundra’s five players immediately shot into the top 50 range of the highest-paid players of all time, but the prize pool for TI11 and before traditionally catapulted winners into the top ten. Valve still made hundreds of millions on the battle pass, so there’s not much incentive for the company to change. Dota 2 prize pools may never be flashier than the $40 million prize pool of The International 2021.