released a free documentary on the event that featured interviews with the teams, and following them from the preliminary stages through to the finale. Introduction of crowdfunding The International 2013 was hosted again at the Benaroya Hall in Seattle from August 7–11. Sixteen teams participated, thirteen of which received direct invitations, and the final three being decided in two qualifying tournaments and a match at the start of the tournament. In May 2013, it was announced that an in-game battle pass, known as the Compendium, would be available for purchase that allowed for the tournament's prize pool to be crowdfunded. A quarter of the total revenue from the Compendium was added to the base $1.6 million prize pool. The prize pool eventually reached over $2.8 million, making it the largest prize pool in esports history at the time. KCPQ news anchor Kaci Aitchison acted as a host at the event, providing behind-the-scenes commentary and player interviews. The International 2013 was viewed by over a million concurrent viewers at its peak, via live streaming websites such as Twitch. The International 2014 took place from July 18–21 at the KeyArena in Seattle. For the event, eleven teams would receive direct invites, with an additional four spots determined by regional qualifiers taking place between May 12–25. The sixteenth spot would be determined by a wild card qualifier between the runners-up from the regional competitions. The tickets for the event were sold out within an hour of going on sale that April. The tournament's crowdfunded prize pool again broke esport records for being the largest in history, with it totalling over $10.9 million. As a result, eight Dota 2 players became the highest earning players in esports, surpassing the top earning player at the time, Lee "Jaedong" Jae-dong of StarCraft. The event was also broadcast on ESPN networks for the first time. Expansion The tournament was expanded to 18 teams for The International 2017 onwards, an increase from the previous 16. The event in 2017 was also the last time it was held in Seattle, with every International since being hosted in a new country. The International 2020 was the first International to skip a year, as it was postponed due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Ahead of the event, originally scheduled to be held in Stockholm, Sweden, the Swedish Sports Federation voted to deny recognition of esports as a sporting event, making it difficult