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Dota 2’s The International tournament will return this AugustBut there’s no Battle Pass, it seems

But there’s no Battle Pass, it seems

It seems brave to stamp a date on anything happening this year, but Valve have announced that theirDota 2tournament of tournaments, The International, will be held on August 10th in Stockholm this year. The teams will be going through the group stages between August 5-8th before battling it out for a chunk of the $40,018,195 prize pool. That prize fund was left over from last year’scancelled tournament.

The challenge of setting up a competition during the Covid-19 pandemic means that we don’t know much else about the physical event. In the announcement on theofficial site, Valve said:

DOTA: Dragon’s Blood | Official Trailer | NetflixWatch on YouTube

DOTA: Dragon’s Blood | Official Trailer | Netflix

Cover image for YouTube video

The International has always had a digital spectator component, and that will change this year. The Battle Pass, a combination of paid event access and loot drops, has always gone hand-in-hand with The International, and it was a single event that the community really loved to take part in. It also funded the prize-pool. They seem to be side-stepping that to run more regular events:

“This year’s slate will continue to look a bit different than in the past. To start, we’ll be shipping two separate events over the coming months instead of one overarching summer event. The first will arrive in mid-to-late June, and another will follow sometime after The International ends. Neither of these events will fund The International prize pool, as the TI10 Battle Pass prize pool still remains to be claimed. For fans that want to support players and organizations, the new Supporters Club provides a more flexible and direct way to contribute to your favorite teams.”

The Supporters Club is a team targeted way of buying in-game merch from your favourite Dota 2 teams, such as badges and equippables. They’re tiered, with Bronze giving you a badge, Silver adding sprays and emoticons, and the Gold tier changing your HP bar, loading screens and voice lines.