The International
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Dota 2 introduces 'Interactive Compendium' tournament companion
Valve has supplemented its upcoming "The International" Dota 2 tournament with a new virtual book, the "International 2013 Interactive Compendium." Available for $10 on the official Dota 2 shop, the Interactive Compendium will deliver news on the tournament and allow players to vote on tournament-related matters, such as post-tournament competitor awards. The Interactive Compendium also unlocks "special virtual item drops throughout the tournament," according to Valve, in addition to matchmaking tournament-minded players and letting folks make predictions on tournament match outcomes. Once the August 7 event has come to a close, players will be able to read each other's Compendiums to see how accurate those predictions ended up being.
Dota 2's The International tournament will return August 7
The Dota 2 tournament called "The International" is set to return for a third round this year, with two different qualifiers leading up to a championship on August 7. The West Qualifier will run May 13-19, and be hosted by eSports outfit GDStudio, and the East Qualifier, hosted by BeyondtheSummit, will go from May 20-26.Those two qualifier winners will be joined by last year's winners from Invictus Gaming, twelve other contenders, and a special Wild Card contender, to be determined from the qualifier runner-ups right before the final showdown.The contest itself will take place at Benaroya Hall in Seattle, WA, and all of the matches will be broadcast online to watch for free. No official prizes have been announced yet, but traditionally The International boasts a $1 million payout for the winner, so the stakes will undoubtedly be high.
PSA: Valve's Dota 2 championships begin prelims today, watch live
The International Dota 2 Championships begin today with preliminary rounds, running through August 28. The preliminary rounds don't eliminate any teams, but they decide the seed for the main competition starting Friday, August 31, at PAX Prime. The International runs through September 2, offering a first-place prize of $1 million.The preliminary rounds begin at 9 a.m. PDT each day from August 26 - 28, while the main event will begin at 10 a.m. PDT August 31 - September 2. Watch all the action of the preliminary rounds here, with main event streams to be posted as those games start.
The International Dota 2 Championships invade PAX Prime
Valve's International Dota 2 Championships 2012 will be held at PAX Prime in Seattle, running August 31 through September 2. The International kicked off last year at Gamescom in Cologne, Germany, with the winning team, Ukraine's Na'vi, walking away with $1 million.Na'vi has received an invitation to defend its title, along with Chinese team DK; 16 teams will compete overall. The International will be broadcast for free in multiple languages, and Valve will release information about obtaining tickets in the coming weeks.
Gaming for the gold: Na'vi take the first International Dota 2 Championships title
Pay homage to the kings of the International Dota 2 Championships, Na'vi! These six Ukrainian studs won $1 million over the five-day tournament held at Gamescom, followed by China's Ehome, who landed in second place. The top eight teams competed bravely, so show some respect as follows: 1. Na'vi - $1 million 2. Ehome - $250,000 3. Scythe.SG - $150,000 4. MYM - $80,000 5. (tied) M5, iG - $35,000 each 7. (tied) OK.Nirvana.int, Mith-Trust - $25,000 each Handing out over $1.5 million to the people who love your game enough to make it a career seems like a wonderful advertising strategy from Valve. Maybe eventually it'll be altered to include people who love Valve's games but have day jobs too. Maybe. [Thanks, Aibbi!]
PSA: Dota 2 International Championships finals begin (early) Sunday morning
The International Dota 2 Championships will crown a victor Sunday, starting at 9 a.m. GMT (5 a.m. EDT), broadcast live via the official tournament site. Teams Ehome and Sythe.SG will battle in the loser's bracket for the chance to face team Na'vi for a $1 million first prize. Even "losers" in the International Championships end up winners in our eyes, with second place earning $250,000, third $150,000, and down all the way through eighth place's $25,000. It's just like T-ball, but more lucrative.
PSA: Dota 2 match replays online and available to watch right now
Just a matter of days ago, we had generally no idea what Dota 2 played or looked like, and now Valve has posted full high definition replays for most of the Radiant vs. Dire matches from its "The International" tournament going on at Gamescom. Just click "View (Replay)" on the tournament match page to watch. If you turn up the resolution and send it fullscreen, it's almost like you're actually playing the game. The video confirms most of what we knew about the game itself: It includes "denying" (which DotA successors like League of Legends have tried to eliminate), all the old heroes are along for the ride, and it generally plays just like the old DotA, though with much better graphics. Not shown in the videos are the game's extensive social features – that will apparently have to wait until we can get ourselves into the beta and check them all out.
Dota 2 beta registration now open
Valve has posted information about "The International" Dota 2 tournament going on at Gamescom this week, but a bunch of news about lucky Gamescom attendees playing the game isn't nearly as exciting as, you know, playing the game yourself. Along with the tourney schedule, Valve has opened up beta registration to the public for Dota 2. To sign up, all you need to do is head over to the Dota 2 page, sign into Steam and then click "Get on the List" to join. Unfortunately, there's no information about just when the beta will be happening or even how players will be chosen to participate, but since there will likely be a lot of people watching the livestream from Gamescom this week, Valve is likely just grabbing names and Steam accounts of interested parties while it can. Here's hoping you get in and play – but not before we do.
