The International 4: Valve’s $10 million Dota 2 tournament brings e-sports to the masses – The Verge The Verge is about technology and how it makes us feel. Founded in 2011, we offer our audience everything from breaking news to reviews to award-winning features and investigations, on our site, in video, and in podcasts. 2014-08-31T21:22:02+00:00 https://www.theverge.com/rss/stream/5645086 https://platform.theverge.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/01/verge-rss-large_80b47e.png?w=150&h=150&crop=1 Dante D'Orazio <![CDATA[Dota 2 is on the front page of today’s New York Times]]> https://www.theverge.com/2014/8/31/6090841/dota-2-is-on-the-front-page-of-todays-new-york-times 2014-08-31T17:22:02-04:00 2014-08-31T17:22:02-04:00

If anyone is still questioning the legitimacy of e-sports, today should be a bit of a wake-up call. The lead photo on the front page of today's New York Times is of this July's $10 million Dota 2 tournament, The International. That's right: The Gray Lady has taken note, running a story on the rise of e-sports on the front page of its Sunday edition. The accompanying article is the first in a series exploring how competitive video gaming has developed into a spectator sport. The Times certainly isn't the first big media company to pay attention to e-sports: ESPN broadcast a preview of The International on one of its cable channels, and, of co …

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]]> Rich McCormick <![CDATA[More than 20 million people watched the most lucrative video game tournament ever]]> https://www.theverge.com/2014/7/29/5949903/more-than-20-million-people-watched-dota-2-international-4 2014-07-29T20:34:01-04:00 2014-07-29T20:34:01-04:00

The International 2014 already had the largest prize pool ever seen in e-sports, but now it can boast one of the largest audiences too. The Dota 2 tournament, the fourth such annual event organized by the game's developer, Valve, was watched live online by more than 20 million people. At its highest, the number of people watching at the same time was over 2 million, a figure that Valve says doubled last year's peak concurrent viewership.

The viewer tally isn't the biggest in e-sports history - last year more than 32 million people watched the finals of Riot Games' League of Legends 2013 Championship Series - but Valve's $10 million prize po …

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]]> Vlad Savov <![CDATA[These video game players just won $5 million]]> https://www.theverge.com/2014/7/21/5923483/these-video-game-players-just-won-5-million 2014-07-21T16:39:00-04:00 2014-07-21T16:39:00-04:00

Following an epic best-of-five clash between two of China's biggest teams, Valve today crowned a new champion of Dota 2, its free-to-play multiplayer game that has morphed into a sporting spectacle capable of filling NBA-sized arenas. Team Newbee triumphed over their compatriots Vici Gaming in four games and earn a grand prize of $5,028,308, to be split between the five players and their support team of coaches and managers. Vici Gaming may be disappointed with their play today, however they too go home with a sizeable stack of cash: the second-place team has earned nearly $1.5 million, sharing in a total prize pool in excess of $10 million.

…

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]]> Vlad Savov <![CDATA[Inside the life of a pro gamer]]> https://www.theverge.com/2014/7/21/5919973/inside-the-life-of-a-pro-gamer 2014-07-21T08:46:27-04:00 2014-07-21T08:46:27-04:00
Helena Kristiansson / Flickr | Helena Kristiansson / ESL

Getting paid to play video games sounds like the cushiest job in the world. Stumble out of bed, fill a bowl of cereal, boot up Steam, and go hunting for thrills and spills. Pants and personal hygiene are optional. That's the pervasive, and in many cases valid, image of the professional gamer - a layabout with a purpose and a paycheck - but there's a great deal more to making a living from gaming than meets the eye. Games are usually a leisure activity and an entertainment, but now they're also generating enough income to sustain entire leagues and multimillion-dollar professional competitions.

To get an insider's perspective on the rigors a …

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]]> Verge Video <![CDATA[What you need to know about Valve’s $10 million ‘Dota 2’ tournament]]> https://www.theverge.com/2014/7/18/5916229/the-main-event-of-valves-10-million-dota-2-tournament-begins-now-video 2014-07-18T15:28:16-04:00 2014-07-18T15:28:16-04:00

The rapid rise of e-sports continues this weekend with the biggest and most lucrative tournament held to date. The fourth Dota 2 International takes place in Seattle's 17,000-seat Key Arena, where the world's best teams are competing for a share of a spectacular $10.5 million prize pool, highlighted by a first place award of over $4.8 million. This year the games will even be broadcast on ESPN. But do you know enough about BKBs and Roshan to follow along? Tune in to find out.

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]]> Andrew Webster <![CDATA[ESPN will broadcast Valve’s ‘Dota 2’ e-sports tournament this weekend]]> https://www.theverge.com/2014/7/17/5913381/espn-covering-valve-e-sports-tournament 2014-07-17T15:45:56-04:00 2014-07-17T15:45:56-04:00

Valve is partnering with ESPN to air the championship rounds of this year's Dota 2 e-sports tournament. Dubbed The International, the tournament kicked off on July 8th and features a record-breaking prize pool of more than $10 million - most of which came from the game's dedicated fanbase. The final rounds of the tournament start tomorrow, and will be featured on the sports network's digital channel, ESPN3, in addition to Valve's own streams.

The coverage also includes an ESPN-exclusive preview of Monday's final, which will air on ESPN2 at 8:30 PM PST on Sunday. Valve has made great efforts to turn the Dota 2 tournament into a more mainstre …

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]]> Vlad Savov Sam Byford <![CDATA[Can video games be sports?]]> https://www.theverge.com/2014/7/11/5890907/can-video-games-be-sports 2014-07-11T13:30:02-04:00 2014-07-11T13:30:02-04:00

The Olympic Games are as ancient a Greek tradition as the Athenian concept of democracy. So long as there's been human culture, sports have been an integral part of it. In their many forms and over their long history, sports have provided relief from the trudgery of daily life and a less bloody way to resolve conflicts than all-out war.

A new kind of competition has sprung up in recent years, inciting passion and fervor as sports have for centuries. However these competitions take place not on a court or a field, but inside the world of video games. So-called e-sports are growing rapidly and powerfully: the current Dota 2 tournament offers …

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]]> Vlad Savov <![CDATA[Valve’s quest to take e-sports mainstream]]> https://www.theverge.com/2014/7/10/5887087/valves-quest-to-take-esports-mainstream 2014-07-10T12:27:22-04:00 2014-07-10T12:27:22-04:00

The question "what is Dota 2" will be asked more times this month than at any other point in the game's past or future. Valve is presently hosting the marquee Dota 2 tournament of the year, The International 4 (TI4), and its incredible $10.5 million prize pool has garnered attention from corners of the world that wouldn't traditionally care about professional gaming. Whatever else happens at the event, its significance as a flagbearer and emissary for e-sports to a mainstream audience is already assured. But Valve won't be satisfied if you just learn about this game's existence. It wants to recruit you into its sphere of addictively intricat …

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]]> Andrew Webster <![CDATA[The biggest e-sports tournament ever starts today and you can watch for free]]> https://www.theverge.com/2014/7/8/5880889/dota-2-the-international-tournament-primer 2014-07-08T11:59:19-04:00 2014-07-08T11:59:19-04:00

Starting today the best Dota 2 players in the world will be competing for an insane prize pool of more than $10 million. And whether you're a fan or just someone looking to learn what e-sports are all about, there are plenty of ways to watch - and it's completely free. The event is being streamed at Dota2.com, and it all starts with the first day of playoffs today. There's a standard live broadcast complete with commentary and analysis, but also a new "spoiler-free DVR" stream that lets you catch the matches at your own pace, in case you aren't able to check it out in real-time.

For Dota 2 junkies who need to watch every moment, there's als …

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]]> Vlad Savov <![CDATA[Fan-funded video game tournament reaches insane $10 million prize pool]]> https://www.theverge.com/2014/6/27/5848994/dota-2-the-international-4-10m-prize-pool 2014-06-27T09:05:09-04:00 2014-06-27T09:05:09-04:00

Coming this July, The International 4 will be the biggest and most lucrative e-sports tournament the world's ever witnessed. The annual Dota 2 championship already surpassed all previous records when its prize pool crossed the $6 million mark in May, but fans have kept adding to the chest of treasure, which has now grown to over $10 million. That number is more than three times the last high water mark for e-sports - the previous year's International fell just shy of $3 million - and compares favorably to the more established professional sports leagues like the NFL.

Dota 2 is on an unstoppable streak

Set to be contested by the 16 best Dota …

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