Valve Announces Dota 2’s The International 13 in Copenhagen
The International 2024, the largest Dota 2 event of the year, will be held in Copenhagen, Denmark, in September.
The location and month of The International 2024, which eliminates the numbered format that would make this The International 13, were revealed in a surprise blog post by Valve on the Dota 2 website. Given the changes in the professional scene, most fans did not expect to hear anything about The International for months, which means it will be the only event Valve participates in this year.
However, the announcement is excellent news, particularly for those of us in Europe who have not had the opportunity to visit The International since its inaugural edition in 2011, when it was part of the Gamescom trade expo in Cologne, Germany. TI was intended to be held in Stockholm in 2020 and again in 2021, but the pandemic dashed all dreams for a Swedish TI. Instead, the 2021 event was moved to Romania, but only days before it was scheduled to begin, it was reported that no fans would be able to attend due to an increase in coronavirus cases.
The exact dates for the event were not given, but the blog post stated that it would begin in September, which is slightly sooner than in previous years. This could mark the beginning of a shift to relocate TI back to late summer, as the event has usually been hosted in August.
We also know that the major event will take place at Copenhagen’s Royal Arena, which has held numerous esports events in the past, including the BLAST Fall Finals last year and the upcoming CS2 Major.
Valve also announced in the blog post that the event will feature 16 teams, direct invites, and open qualifiers. After the Dota Pro Circuit, which previously determined qualifying teams, TI invites will revert to the original method, with Valve inviting the top teams from the year and organizing open and closed qualifications for the remaining seats.
Valve will examine which teams will receive a direct invite based on their performance at events throughout the year, with some events carrying more weight than others. International events that require qualifications will be ranked higher than invitation-only single-region tournaments, for example.
Ticket information and a complete schedule for The International 2024 will be released in the following months.