If you don't particularly follow eSports of any kind but dabble in the games that bolster its growth across the globe, then chances are you watched Free to Play, the recent freely available documentary on the original DotA 2 International from 2011, which wowed gamers and fans alike at the time with its million dollar plus prize pool. Today though, the scene is a lot different and the money just keeps on growing.
In 2014, the prize pool has now crested $4 million.
To make it so that it doesn't have to supply all of the money itself, Valve implemented a system last year where it sold in-game content through a Compendium that expanded like Kickstarter, with stretch goals, as the total of buys goes up and up. This year is no different and thanks to gamers buying up thousands of the thing, the total of prize money up for grabs for DotA 2 gamers is now sitting at almost $4.2 million.
It's not like gamers have even been buying this thing for months either. It only went on sale on Friday, which makes it obvious why Valve has stretch goals all the way up to six million and potentially beyond, because it'll probably get there.
This easily makes it the most funded esports gaming event ever, with the previous record held by the DotA 2 International in 2013, with just over $2 million up for grabs. The game's main rival, League of Legends, has "only" managed a prize pool of dead on $2 million with its last year World Championships.
How high do you guys think this total will go before the actual event takes place between July 18 and 21? Probably astronomically higher than it is already.
Are we potentially looking at the first $10 million prize pool esports event?