Dota 2 championships set new prize pool record

The fifth annual Interntaional Dota 2 Championships has pulled together a record-setting prize pool ahead of the event this August.

The company initially announced a prize pool of $1.6m in April, which climbed to over $5.5m in a matter of days thanks to sales of the game’s latest virtual Compendium offering – a Dota 2 program that includes in-game challenges, cosmetic rewards and fantasy league-like predictions for $10 or $28 depending on the version.

The Compendium stats pagenow shows more than $11.9m raised for the competitors of Valve’s eSports event. That tops The International 2014’s prize pool of $10.9m by a cool million, with still plenty of time to put some additional distance between last year and this year’s fundraising efforts.

What makes the prize pool figure even more impressive is that it comes from just 25 per cent of Compendium sale proceeds. Simple math suggests Valve’s making a boatload on the offer.

Stretch goals for the Compendium-powered purse for the competition tops out at $15m. The International 2015 takes place August 3rd.