The International Dota 2 Championship is one of the most prestigious esports events of the year. Teams from around the world come together for a chance to immortalise their names on the acclaimed Aegis of Champions. The tournament often draws attention due to its massive prize pool and has broken many esports prize pool records in the past. However, in recent years, this prize pool has significantly decreased.
This year’s International has a prize pool of 2.5 million USD, the lowest since Valve first introduced the Compendium back in 2013. This has caused concern within the Dota 2 community about the longevity of its professional scene. While this concern has spread like wildfire within the community, professional players have different perspectives on the matter.
There is a popular belief that Dota 2 professional players earn their living primarily through tournament winnings. While this is true to some extent, certain aspects of the scene have changed.
Recently, the midlaner of Gaimin Gladiators, Quinn "Quinn" Callahan, reflected on the prize pool of this year's TI (The International 2024) while sharing his thoughts on the longevity of the professional scene.
The International reached a record-high prize pool in 2021, featuring 40 million USD. The champions of that year, Team Spirit, took home 18 million USD in tournament winnings, which was the same amount as the total prize pool for The International 2015.
Since then, the tournament's prize pool has been on the decline. While Quinn expressed his thoughts on the prize pool decrease, he also emphasised the pressure that comes with high prize pools.
"When you look at Romanian TI – the psychotic one. When you're going from 12th to 8th was like some unreal pressure because it's like a million dollar difference or something. If you're not from a country with an extremely high cost of living – it's an astronomical amount of money. It's different now and that's okay. I don't think change is all bad. The prize pool being smaller feels worse because big things means we're important which means high prize pool like it's growing – it's cool, I get that. But it's okay to be small and different."
While tournament prize pools play a role in a player's earnings, many people forget that they are also playing for a team. As a result, players can expect to receive a salary. While each player's salary varies depending on the tier they play in, it is safe to assume that tier 1 players earn comfortably.
This season, speculations about Zai's potential earnings during his time at Team Liquid surfaced online, leaving many surprised. Although Quinn does not reveal the specifics of how much top-tier Dota 2 professionals earn, he hinted that it allows them to earn enough to pursue their gaming passion comfortably.
"You can look at the viewership and the viewership is good for this TI, and I think the games are very good and I think it's very enjoyable. I think people are enjoying watching the games. The price being smaller is like is sad in some ways but I can tell you tier 1 Dota players already make enough money– they don't need to make anymore– it's fine. We play video games for a living, we make enough money."
Currently, Quinn is considered one of the top midlaners in today's professional Dota 2 scene. He helped Gaimin Gladiators secure multiple trophies in various tournaments they attended. They recently took home the Riyadh Masters 2024 trophy and are among the favourites to win The International 2024 (TI13).
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