Dota 2 International 2015 Has Record-Breaking Prize Pool

Valve is putting a lot of money back into the Dota 2 eSports community. How much money? Well, based on the current prize pool coffer, there is currently $12 million up for grabs for the upcoming International 2015 tournament.

Over on the official Dota 2 website the company has a list of all the stretch goals for the prize pool as people buy the cash shop Compendium offers, which goes toward the prize pool. It's setup very similar to Warner Bros Interactive Entertainment selling the Mortal Kombat X DLC and it going toward the ESL and EVO championship prize pools. It's a neat way to build up funds and give competitive gamers something to strive toward. In this case, there are 12 million reasons why gamers would want to get good at Dota 2 and attempt to walk away as the grand prize champion.

For Dota 2, as you purchase Compendium from the cash shop and level up, the money goes toward the prize pool and you earn goods. Collectively, the more the community spends the more they unlock for everyone. At the $1 million mark Compendium Coins were unlocked, allowing players to earn coins through challenges, drops and treasures. At $2 million, a brand new cursor pack was unlocked for Dota 2. At $2.5 million players were able to vote on who would battle it out at the all-star match at the International at the end of the season.

Moving up the rewards ladder, as more gamers purchased Compendium more rewards unlocked. At the $3 million mark everyone who purchased Compendium would be rewarded with an Immortal Treasure. At $4 million an effigy block was unlocked for the International, with some rare players having the opportunity to earn a golden effigy block at the big event. At $4.5 million new loading screens were unlocked showcasing some of the game's concept art and designs.

For those who kept on purchasing Compendium, the $5 million mark unlocked brand new emoticons for use in-game. A HUD skin arrived at $5.5 million, while at $6 million some brand new taunts were awarded for some heroes to use during a match. Nothing says victory in Dota 2 like taunting your opponents.

Moving up the ranks, at $8 million the Dota 2 short film contest was commenced, with entrants being eligible for receiving up to $20,000 for their entries. $9 million unlocked a new wyvern courier to carry items into battle. At $11 million Valve implemented a new desert terrain look for a map, and at present, the $12 million mark unlocked an exclusive new music pack for Dota 2 players to take into battle with them.

The $14 million stretch goal is looking mighty interesting as it contains brand new weather effects for game maps. I don't know how well that would affect the actual matches but it would be really cool to see that make the cut. Of course, I did kind of skip over the $13 million stretch goal, which is a new Bristleback announcer pack.

You can check out all the full rewards for the Dota 2 Compendium campaign over on the official website.