Last year's The International tournament for Dota 2 had a prize pot of around $10,000,000 – not an inconsiderable sum by any means. Looks like it will be small beans compared to this year's crowd-funded effort, however.
So far Dota fans have raised a mind-blowing $15,000,000, enough to unlock every single one of Valve's stretch goals, including new weather effects, terrain, courier pets, a new skin and more.
As usual Valve stumped up $1.6 million for the base prize pool, and then offered the Compendium, a collection of bonus in-game items, for $9.99, with an enhanced 'Level 50' edition available for $26.99 that adds the various goodies unlocked through the stretch goals. 25% of Compendium sales go into the pot.
Best try not to imagine just how much cash Valve is hoovering up from all this. There's a while to go yet, too; The International 2015 doesn't start until August 3, and sales will continue up until that point. The tournament will run on until August 8, at which point one of sixteen teams will be triumphant.
Last year over 20 million people watched the grand finals, in which Chinese team Newbee beat Vici Gaming to the glory, and of course the money. $5 million, to be exact. I'm off for a lie down, it's very hot here and I'm very jealous.
