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Dota 2: The International prize pool hits $20M, still growing

Dota 2: The International is ridiculously lucrative this year.

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Dota 2: The International has reached a significant milestone, as crowdufnding of its prize pool continues throughout the competition this week.

At time of writing the total up for grabs is $20,105,453 - a whopping target for anyone gunning to take Dota 2: The International's largest eSports prize pool record.

With this kind of money on the line, the winning team is set to take home over $8 million. Even after the team and management crew takes a slice that's a pretty tasty amount spread over the five players in a Dota 2 roster.

Dota 2 doesn't have a professional league with player salaries like League of Legends does, which means its players are reliant on prize money and sponsorship to earn a living from the game. It takes constant practice to reach professional level, let alone start taking home prize money. This may comfort you a little when you're gazing at your pay cheque this month wondering if you chose the wrong career.

There are loads of ways to tune into Dota 2: The International 2016 if you want to watch players battle it out for $20 million. Now in its sixth year, The International is Dota 2's global championship, and caps out a year of competitive play.

The majority of Dota 2: The International's prize money comes from purchases of the Battlepass, which provides various in-game goodies and activities for Dota 2 players. Valve keeps 75% of the purchase prize, but also ponies up a base amount for the pot, covers competitor expenses and, you know, throws a huge event in Seattle's Key Arena every year.

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Brenna Hillier avatar

Brenna Hillier

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Based in Australia and having come from a lengthy career in the Aussie games media, Brenna worked as VG247's remote Deputy Editor for several years, covering news and events from the other side of the planet to the rest of the team. After leaving VG247, Brenna retired from games media and crossed over to development, working as a writer on several video games.

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