 To ensure that enough Defense of the Ancients players would take up Dota 2 and to showcase the game 's capabilities , Valve sponsored sixteen accomplished Defense of the Ancients teams to compete at The International , a Dota 2 specific eSports tournament , for a $ 1 million prize in 2011 . The International became an annual championship tournament in 2012 , with the venue changing to Seattle , Washington . In its third year , The International allowed <unk> to add to its prize pool through an interactive , in @-@ game item called a " compendium " . <unk> , which are optional and must be purchased separately , allow players who buy them to directly raise prize money for The International by spending money on unique compendium cosmetics and other in @-@ game items , with 25 % of all the revenue made going directly to the prize pool . Sales from the 2013 compendium helped raise over $ 2 @.@ 8 million , making The International 2013 reclaim its previous title as having the largest prize pool in eSports history from the League of Legends Season 2 World Championship . Since then , each annual tournament of The International has broken the previous one 's prize pool record , with the fourth iteration of the tournament raising over $ 10 @.@ 9 million , exceeding the prizes pools of the Super Bowl , Masters Tournament , and Tour de France . At The International 2015 , the prize pool exceeded $ 18 @.@ 4 million , earning the champion team , Evil <unk> , over $ 6 million . 
