Wykrhm Reddy announced via Twitter that TI9 prize pool has just surpassed $30 million USD, dethroning Fortnite’s World Cup prize pool of $30 million. How is this possible? We give our explanation below.
TI9 Dethrones Fortnite For Largest Price Pool In Esports History
In less than one week, one of the biggest esports event with the largest prize pool in the history of esports will begin. That was the reality yesterday until Wykrhm Reddy crashed the party. Wykrhm, who some speculate works for Valve while others say he’s just a “community man“, has been a major figure in the Dota 2 scene for many years. Any major news for the game is most likely coming from him unless Valve officially announces it via their website or social media channels. But when things are quiet in the Dota 2 scene, everyone turns to Wykrhm.
For the past few months, the talk in the esports world was the Fortnite World Cup, specifically the prize pool amount. Epic Games announced earlier last year that they would hold a Fortnite World Cup tournament, the largest Fortnite competitive tourney to date, and on top of that, they announced the largest esports prize pool for any major event. The winner of the World Cup would walk away with $30 million dollars. This was unheard of, especially for the likes of Dota 2’s TI (The International), which has been breaking records for having the largest prize pool in esports.
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Wykrhm Reddy recently tweeted that TI9 surpassed $30 million USD in prize pool, becoming once again having the largest prize pool in esports.
The International 2019 Prize Pool surpasses $30 Million USD. TI9 now has the LARGEST PRIZE POOL for any single tournament in the history of esports. #TI9 pic.twitter.com/YtRC2dt0uO
— Wykrhm Reddy (@wykrhm) July 21, 2019
But how is this possible? How can TI9 come out of nowhere and break Fortnite’s record for largest prize pool? Let’s find out.
The International Compendium
The International has always been one of the largest esports events. It would seem that with all it’s advertising, millions of players and fans tuning in worldwide, and many advertisers looking to be part of the big event that this would all be enough for Valve Corporation. Well, it wasn’t, and the 3rd International (2013) Valve introduced the Interactive Compendium. It was a digital book for purchase and offered fans to give back to their favorite teams and players by contributing to the prize pool of that year’s TI.
“Every time that you guys play a match, or create an item or contribute to the compendium, you’re helping make Dota better for the rest of us.” – Gabe Newell
The cost of the compendium was $99 in 2013. The International Prize Pool increased by $2.50 for every International Compendium purchased.
The prize pool nearly doubled to $2,874,380 which was a 79.65% increase. This not only made the Dota 2 community stronger, but it also helped esports organizations grow stronger and provided support for players careers. The introduction of the Interactive Compendium changed The International forever, and the Compendium has only become more advanced with its offerings. This is the only way that TI is able to amass a large prize pool each and every year; with the help of players all over the world. Will Epic Games ever incorporate something like the Compendium in Fortnite? We shall see.
The International Prize Pool Each Year
The prize pool has only increased for TI every year. Here is how it looked like since 2011:
- 2011: $1,600,000
- 2012: $1,600,000
- 2013: $2,874,380
- 2014: $10,923,977
- 2015: $18,429,613
- 2016: $20,770,460
- 2017: $24,787,916
- 2018: $25,532,177
- 2019: $30M + (still on-going)
Credit to theScore:
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