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Singapore to host Dota 2’s The International 11

The largest Dota 2 tournaments often have prize pools totaling millions of dollars. Shown here is The International 2018, a $25 million tournament hosted at the Rogers Arena in Vancouver., tags: singapore host 2's - CC BY-SA

Dota 2’s The International 11 (TI11) will take place in Singapore in October, according to developer Valve Software on Sunday, May 22. In the 11-year history of The International, Valve has held the global esports tournament in Canada, the US, Germany, Romania, and China. This will be the first time the global tournament takes place in a Southeast Asian country.

Valve announced the host country for the TI11 during the grand finals of the ESL One Dota 2 Stockholm Major, the 2021-2022 Dota Pro Circuit (DPC) season’s first international LAN tournament. Previously on Twitter, it hinted at an upcoming event but did not provide further details except for the location and date.

According to datDota developer and analyst Ben “Noxville” Steenhuisen, as of the time of the announcement, several teams had a greater than 90 percent chance to qualify for TI11 via DPC points. These teams included PSG.LGD, TSM, Gaimin Gladiators, OG, and Thunder Awaken.

TI’s prize pool has always been the largest for a single esports tournament since its inception. The first event in 2011 had a prize pool of $1.6 million, whereas TI10 had $40 million. Team Spirit won the grand prize of over US$18.2 million as the TI10 champions.

The large amount is crowdfunded by in-game purchases made by the Dota 2 community and has been increasing for years. The amount of prize money up for grabs at this year’s competition is unknown, but an announcement is expected to be made soon.

Southeast Asia hosting The International for the first time

TI11 will take place in a Southeast Asian country for the first time. The region is known for being one of the most competitive regions in the DPC and is home to the most passionate Dota 2 fans.

Nine out of 10 TIs have so far taken place in Europe and North America. After Germany hosted the first TI in 2011, the next six TIs from 2012 to 2017 took place near Valve’s headquarters in Seattle, United States. TI8 was held in Vancouver, Canada, in 2018, followed by the first tournament held in the East when Shanghai, China, hosted TI9.

Stockholm, Sweden, was originally scheduled to host last year’s tournament, TI10. However, the event had to be canceled as the Swedish government refused to grant permission.

In a subsequent announcement, Valve confirmed that TI10 would take place in Bucharest, Romania, with a live audience. However, the plan to host an audience was canceled as a result of new venue restrictions and rising rates of COVID-19 cases.

International esports tournaments are not new to Singapore. ONE Esports Dota 2 Singapore Major took place in April 2021, with Chinese squad Invictus Gaming coming out as the champion. Last December, Singapore hosted the Mobile Legends: Bang Bang M3 World Championship as well. The country will also host the League of Legends: Wild Rift 2022 Icons Global Championship in June.

More information about the event will be revealed in the coming months as the Summer Tour and the Arlington Major are approaching.