Dota 2 makes waves with $10 million International prize pool

Thanks to Valve's crowdfunding initiatives, the Dota 2 world championship, otherwise known as The International, now has a prize pool totaling more than $10 million. Which is like ... *counts out fingers* ... a lot. It's enough to eclipse last year's $2.9 million prize pool several times over, and the numbers are still climbing. Here's how it works:

Valve forwards $2.50 to the prize pool for every $10 Compendium purchased, as well as 25 percent of money spent on Compendium points. So what's a Compendium? Think of it like an interactive Dota 2 almanac, where owners can earn rewards by predicting winners, completing in-game quests, and so on. Compendium owners also gain access to exclusive rewards such as special chat emoticons or free unlocks of alternate character voices as the crowdfunding campaign reaches new milestones. It took just shy of a day for Compendium sales to beat the previous prize pool.

Due to its obscene amounts of cash, The International 2014 will be the record-holder for largest prize pool in eSports history when it commences on July 18 at the Key Arena in Seattle.

[Image: Valve/Joystiq]