For the first time in e-sport history, the most awaited DOTA 2 annual tournament, ‘The International’, is happening in Southeast Asia, particularly in Singapore this October.
After a series of a tease on Twitter, DOTA 2 developer, Valve, finally revealed where and when the annual world championship tournament, The International, will be held. Previously hosted in America, Canada, China, Germany, and Romania, the global e-sports competition makes history by heading to Southeast Asia and holding the biggest DOTA 2 competition in Singapore.
The said event has been making waves in the gaming industry because of its generous prize pool – with last year’s winning team getting a piece of $40 million – which continues to increase thanks to the crowdfunded sum of in-game purchases made by the DOTA 2 community.
More about DOTA 2’s Annual The International Tournament
‘The International’ is the biggest of Valve’s DOTA 2 major tournaments that also serves as the culmination of the MOBA game’s yearly e-sport cycle. The multiplayer real-time strategy video game is developed and published by game developer Valve Corporation. DOTA 2 is the sequel to Defense of the Ancients (DotA) which was originally created as a modification and was released with Warcraft 3: Reign of Chaos in 2002.
Like other RTS video games, players from all around the world can team up, pick from the wide range of hero characters available, and engage in epic battles with other players.
Because of the pandemic, The International in 2020 which was supposed to be held in Stockholm, Sweden, was canceled. In 2021, participating players were present in person in Bucharest, Romania but no live audience was permitted to watch the said event.
While it remains unclear how Valve Corporation plans to host this year’s event in Singapore, the Singapore Tourism Board shared that they have provided grant support for the event to welcome more visitors coming back to Singapore – as e-sports and sports events are an integral part of the board’s strategy in bringing in quality events and visitors to the country. According to STB executive director for sports and wellness, Ong Ling Lee, “Popular international e-sports competitions such as the 11th edition of DOTA 2 The International augment the country’s ambition to be a premier e-sport destination in the region.”
In 2021, the country has hosted other gaming tournaments including the DOTA Pro Circuit event, Mobile Legends Big Bang (MLBB) M2 World Championship, The Free Fire World Series, Wild Rift Horizon Cup, and some other Tier 1 tournaments, which have been held in other countries like the Philippines and Malaysia. This June, the republic is slated to host the League of Legends: Wild Rift 2022 Icons Global Championship.
The co-founder of the Singapore Cybersports and Online Gaming Association, Mr. Nicholas Khoo, shared that he expects that The International 2022 would draw a large crowd of fans, including international travelers from all around the world, particularly from the region, like China and other Southeast Asian neighboring countries.
Overall, the year 2022 begins to get more and more exciting with big events happening in Singapore. DOTA 2 The International may just be the beginning of more interesting e-sport activities that are bound to take place in the country after things have been slowly eased in this time of the pandemic. Stay posted for more updates!
Cover photo credit: Dota 2 Instagram
