Dota 2 International 2015 will have biggest prize pool in esports history

When the world is naught but ash billowing through the cosmos, one fact will stand immortal. Valve is very good at selling internet wizard books.

Thanks to the Compendium—the Dota 2 Electronic Annual—the prize pool for this year's The International stands at a staggering $11,513,349. Only it's not. That's the total right now as I write this. When you go to look, it'll be higher. See, it's already at $11,531,095.

Last year's International ended at a 'mere' $10,930,698. This year, Dota 2 players have bested that amount in only half the time.

There's still plenty of time to raise more, too. Right now, Valve has stretch goals stretching out to the $15 million mark. Now that the $11 million stretch goal has been smashed, Compendium owners will receive a desert terrain item that enables a new-look map.

Some quick money maths: Valve's initial stake in the prize pool was $1.6 million. That means, as of my last check, the community has pitched in $9.93 million of the prize pool total. Except only 25% of the Compendium money goes to the prize pool, meaning the total amount spent on internet wizard books this year is $39,724,380. And growing.

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Phil has been writing for PC Gamer for nearly a decade, starting out as a freelance writer covering everything from free games to MMOs. He eventually joined full-time as a news writer, before moving to the magazine to review immersive sims, RPGs and Hitman games. Now he leads PC Gamer's UK team, but still sometimes finds the time to write about his ongoing obsessions with Destiny 2, GTA Online and Apex Legends. When he's not levelling up battle passes, he's checking out the latest tactics game or dipping back into Guild Wars 2. He's largely responsible for the whole Tub Geralt thing, but still isn't sorry.