It looks as if the prize pool of Dota 2 The International 2019 has the chance to break records. In just a little over eleven hours, the total prize pool has breached the $5 million mark.
As of this writing, the actual amount stands at $5.1 million. With a $1.6 million base prize pool, this means that the contributed prize pool is at least $3.5 million. The contributed prize pool is 25% of all the Battle Pass sales, which implies that total sales so far of the Battle Pass has reached around $14 million. During the same time period last year, that amount was around $4 million.
In order to beat last year’s prize pool, this year will need to go over $25.5 million.
Players have long been waiting for this year’s Battle Pass and it appears Valve was right to delay the release. In previous years, the release of the Battle Pass has usually been done prior to a Major tournament. However that appears not to have stopped fans and players from immediately getting a Battle Pass.
You could not live with your own wallets.
— Wykrhm Reddy (@wykrhm) May 7, 2019
Where did that bring you?
Back to me.
I am inevitable. pic.twitter.com/WByvDAkZb2
Valve released the Battle Pass yesterday, May 7, which offered a number of new features. One feature is the Coach’s Challenge which allows high ranked players to be teamed up with lower ranked and “teach” them strategies and playstyles. The Battle Pass is also making matchmaking easier with the Party Finder, and help players avoid negative people with the Avoid Player option.
To encourage players to play well, the MVP Vote feature is a good motivation. After each match, all players are encouraged to vote for the MVP from the winning team. The MVP voted not only gets featured in a post-game screen, but even recognized in the pre-game segment in the next match.
For this year, the Arcana up for grabs is Planetfall for Earthshaker. The Arcana item is available to players who have the Battle Pass and reach Level 365. The Arcana offers a new celestial-themed hero model, including new animations and Echo Slam effects. At Level 255, players get access to the Tiny Prestige Item. Aside from a new hero model, it comes with custom animations for both Tree Grab and Avalanche.
