Today, Valve announced that the second annual tournament for a game that isn't out yet will take place at PAX Prime in Seattle. 2012's Dota 2 tourney will run the weekend of August 31st at the Benaroya Hall, alongside a stop on the $3 million League of Legends tournament organized by rival MOBA-developer Riot. The International uses an invitational format, and so far only two teams have confirmed their invites: China's DK, and last year's champions, Natus Vincere (Na'Vi) from the Ukraine.
Last year's inaugural tournament, which took place in Cologne during Gamescom, boasted a $1 million grand prize. Valve notes last year's prize in its press release, but hasn't directly stated the value of this year's pot. In an interview with joinDOTA which took place a few months ago, Valve's Erik Johnson stated that the total prize pot will be "at least" as large as 2011's $1.6 million. Dota 2 fans, what would you do with a million?
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Len Hafer is a freelancer and lifelong PC gamer with a specialty in strategy, RPGs, horror, and survival games. A chance encounter with Warcraft 2: Tides of Darkness changed her life forever. Today, her favorites include the grand strategy games from Paradox Interactive like Crusader Kings and Europa Universalis, and thought-provoking, story-rich RPGs like Persona 5 and Disco Elysium. She also loves history, hiking in the mountains of Colorado, and heavy metal music.
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