CHENNAI: The winners of The International, a Dota 2 tournament, organised by American gaming firm Valve Corporation here last week stand to take home more than $1.75 million (`11.7 crore) each. It is more than what a soccer world champion gets.
Chances are that you have never heard about Dota 2. Computer games are “for geeks” after all and serious gaming is something few Indians are encouraged to pursue. But the sheer weight of the prize money for the sixth edition of The International should be enough for most to sit up and take notice.
And Dota 2 is not a stranger to India. For gamers who are interested in a little more than the run of the mill “shoot them and kill them” games, Dota 2 is immensely popular. Valve’s online gaming platform Steam, on which Dota 2 is played, has thousands of Indian players.
But not a single Indian team has qualified for the finals in Seattle. One or two persons of Indian origin do represent leading teams—like Saheel Arora, part of the defending champions Evil Geniuses, and a few others. “There are a lot of talented players, but gaming isn’t encouraged as a profession here,” says Ashwin Casmir, an amateur player. And becoming a professional Dota 2 player requires thousands of hours of dedication. While the game’s basic premise is simple (attack and destroy the main structure in the opposing team’s base), the execution is immensely complex—with hundreds of items that need to be bought with credit and experience obtained from ‘farming’ (killing) enemy foot soldiers or ‘Creeps’ and enemy team players.
Tough games last for more than an hour-and-a-half sometimes. Equipment that works for one hero is useless for other. Dota 2, like any game, needs hours of practice. And increasing prize money pools for its tournaments are making time spent on becoming a professional level player worth it. The prize money for The International Dota 2 championship was set to increase till the final game on August 13, which was not played till the filing of this report. “Only $1.6 million of the total prize pool was contributed by the organiser. The rest of the $18 million and more is coming from a series of online events on the game that has been going on for 80 days now,” says Sudarshan Reddy, an amateur Dota 2 player.
According to the Dota 2 and The International’s website, the prize pool for the tournament crossed $20 million. Contribution from in-game events and special purchases by Dota 2 players worldwide is $18.42 million. The winning team will take home over $8.8 million ($1.76 million a player). The winning 2014 FIFA World Cup German team took home $35 million; $1.52 million for each player.