The International (esports): History and Background

The International (TI) is an annual esports world championship for the five-on-five video game Dota 2. Produced by the game's developer Valve, it serves as the culminating event of the professional Dota 2 season and currently features 16 teams. The International was first held in Germany at the 2011 Gamescom to promote the game's release. It was then held in Seattle, where Valve is headquartered, until it began to be hosted internationally again starting with The International 2018 in Vancouver.

The tournament's prize pool has been crowdfunded via transactions within the game since 2013, with a quarter of all revenue from it directly going towards it. Internationals have the largest single-tournament prize pool of any esport event, with its largest reaching US$40 million in 2021. The most recent champion is Team Spirit, who won The International 2026 for the third time. OG, and Team Liquid each have also won two Internationals since its inception.

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