Valve Corporation is actively looking for the next city to host Dota 2's largest event – The International 2021.
Dota 2’s most prestigious event for the year is The International. It’s the culmination of the competitive year and teams would gladly skip any other tournament for a chance to take part in it. This year, fans will gather at Stockholm, Sweden, to mark the 10th edition of The International as it makes a return to Europe for the first time since 2011. Previously, we’ve seen six editions in Seattle, USA; one in Cologne, Germany; one in Vancouver, Canada, and one in Shanghai, China.
Today, the official Dota 2 Twitter posted a call to action, asking fans to tag their mayors.
Does your city want to host The International Dota 2 Championships?Tag your mayor.#Dota2 #esports pic.twitter.com/e14D1XJiGT
— Dota 2 (@dota2updates) February 26, 2020
Many joined in, including Team Secret and Danil “Dendi” Ishutin. While there’s still more than a year and a half until the actual event, the final date to submit an application is March 31. The International gathers thousands of fans from across the world every year and it’s a good opportunity for any city. In a perfect world, it’d be in a country which wouldn’t cause issues for some of the players based on their nationality, something we saw during the Kuala Lumpur Major.
Visitors will also include famous casters, analysts and most importantly the best pro teams. The number of teams for TI11 is expected to be higher due to the upcoming changes to the format with the start of next season. Suddenly, the random YouTube video Valve released over a week ago actually makes sense.
The International’s prize pool stands above all other esports events in any other title, with last year’s record reaching $34,330,068. It would be interesting to see the big tournament in a country or continent it has never visited before. Kiev, Ukraine, or Moscow, Russia, seem like good choices considering the size of the community in the CIS region and their enthusiasm and love for the game.
Now’s your chance to tag your city’s mayor for a good reason!
