Dota 2’s International 8 Battle Pass breaks crowdfunding records with $5M prize pool in 24 hours
Last night, Valve, the developer and publisher of the popular game Dota 2, released the International 8 Battle Pass, which marks the start of preparations for the annual world championship tournament. A quarter of the proceeds from the Battle Pass sales will contribute to the prize pool for TI8, just like in previous iterations. However, this time the crowdfunding aspect has exceeded all expectations, setting a new 24-hour record with a prize pool of $5 million.
This impressive figure puts TI8 far ahead of last year’s tournament, TI7, in terms of prize money at this stage. The prize tracker created by community analyst and Team Secret director of operations Matthew “Cyborgmatt” Bailey confirms that the prize pool for TI8 is already 20.7 percent of TI7’s total. In just one day of crowdfunding, TI8 has also surpassed the prize pool for the 2017 League of Legends World Championship.
The rate at which the prize pool is growing this year is remarkable. Within just one hour of the Battle Pass launch, the prize pool reached $500,000, compared to $20,000 in the first hour of last year’s Battle Pass.
The TI8 Battle Pass will continue its crowdfunding campaign for the next five months, based on the duration of last year’s Battle Pass. This gives it ample time to earn even more money for the prize pool. If it maintains this pace, The International 8 is on track to break the record for the highest single-event esports prize pool.
Valve may also repeat the Battle Points sale from last year, which greatly boosted the prize pool for TI7. Regardless, TI8 is well on its way to yet another impressive payout.
Dota 2, TI8, International 8 Battle Pass, prize pool, crowdfunding, esports