Valve’s hit MOBA game, Dota 2 has hit an all new high. The crowd funded prize pool for the International Dota 2 Championship has jump to a total of $15 million in total cash prizes. Yes, you read that correctly, $15 million, the prize pool for last was $10.9 million, a pretty nice bump.
How did the company come up with this huge prize pool? It’s easy, fans purchased a TI5 Compendium. The TI5 Compendium is an easy way for players to level up, unlock new challenges, and rewards. You have different bundles to choose from, the TI5 Compendium has a set price of $10, along with a version pre-leveled to 50 available for $26.99. You also have “Point bundles” this bundle starts at $2.49 for five levels worth of points, that climb up to all the way to $9.99 for 24 levels of Compendium progress. This is where the money comes in for the prize pool, thanks to fans who purchase these bundles, a quarter of what the company makes off of that goes to the prize pool.
This is nothing new, many eSports companies have the same formula. Companies such as Hi-Rez, the Makers of SMITE have done the same by having fans buy special promotional skins that will be donated to the prize pool. Fans don’t mind purchasing these bundles for the simple fact that they may never be able to receive that “special skin” or don’t want to miss out on a sweet deal, plus fans like the feeling that they are helping their community grow, in which Dota 2 fans have accomplished.
Valve will be hosting their 2015 International Dota 2 Championship starting August 3 and will continue until August 8.
