The International 2023 Dota 2 Championship: Dates, Venue and Format Announced

On the final day of The Berlin Major, as Gaimin Gladiators emerged as the champions, Valve shared their plans for the twelfth iteration of TI, The International 2023 Dota 2 Championships. Finally, after five years, The International Dota 2 Championships will be returning to its home soil, Seattle, Washington, USA. The last time The Internationals were in Seattle, Team Liquid, led by veteran Kuro "KuroKy" Takhasomi, came out victorious. They forever immortalised their names at the coveted Aegis of Champions.

A Brief History

The  Internationals started as a tournament to debut Dota 2, featuring a million-dollar prize pool. The Internationals forever revolutionised the esports industry, and it became the pinnacle of Dota 2 esports. In 2013, Valve introduced crowd-funding through Compendium and the prize pool for The International grew and reached staggering heights. Even though more than 12 teams compete every year, only one team can emerge victorious with their names forever carved onto the aegis of Champions and their lives changed forever.

The First Failure

However, last year The Internationals held in Singapore was considered a failure. The prize pool didn’t break any records. Furthermore, the prize pool decreased for the first time since the original Internationals. The stage was also poorly set and had fans questioning the production quality, comparing it to Shanghai Major.

The International 2022 also saw the return of James "2GD" Harding. Despite its setbacks, it became the third most-watched Dota 2 event ever. It has a peak viewership of over 1.7 million viewers and an average of 563 713 viewers during its over 120 hours of airtime.

The Date 

Valve announced The International 2023 is from October 14 through October 29 through a blog post. The International 2023 will not feature any open qualifiers. It will only feature regional qualifiers. The International 2023 will take place at Climate Pledge Arena. Team Liquid has qualified for the tournament and Gaimin Gladiators are on the verge of qualifying for The Internationals.