Valve's "DOTA 2" multiplayer online battle arena video game recently broke its own record by setting the biggest e-sports prize pool of all time with $11.4 million, and the figure is still counting.
The previous e-sports prize pool record held by "DOTA 2" was for $10.9 set during the debut of Valve's The International tournament, also known as the Super Bowl of e-sports. Valve funded $.16 million for this year's prize pool while the rest of its came in form of purchases of special in-game items.
With the current prize pool of $11.5 million, $9.9 million of it came from user contributions while the remainder came from various commercial sponsors.
According to The Verge, with the current rise in funding and with 60 days to go before the tournament starts, the "DOTA 2" prize pool will no doubt surpass the $15 million mark.
In comparison, the United States Masters golf tournament handed out $10 million dollars to the top winners this year. The French Open on the other hand handed out a total of $36 million to its competitors on both the men and women's division. According to The Guardian, e-sports is still a long shot compared to large sports event like the FIFA World Cup but the continued rise of e-sports' supporters is testament to its growing fan base.
The International 2015 was first announced in January 2015. The event will take place from Aug. 3 to Aug. 8 in Key Arena, Seattle. Invitations and tickets went on sale in the first week of May.
The "DOTA 2" main client can be download on Steam for free.