- Joined
- May 29, 2007
- Messages
- 6,324
- Reaction score
- 1,136
With the Playoffs of The International 2014 getting underway next Tuesday, Valve have released a new "Overview" page which details how the tournament will be taking place, how you can spectate the event, and what the winning teams are likely to take home as prize money.
The page opens by reiterating the event's schedule before revealing how the $10,000,000 prize pool will be distributed amongst the winning teams. Given how much money is on the line, the top 14 teams will now receive prize winnings, rather than just the top 8 like previous years. At the time of writing, the first place prize is sitting at a cool $4,736,161, while the second place team will receive $1,389,960. The prize pool continues to be distributed proportionally until the 13th and 14th place, who receive $20,592 each.
In order to further improve the viewing experience for spectators watching the tournament from home, Valve are introduced a new "Spoiler-Free DVR Broadcast", which will only list match results from the previous days' games. The broadcast will also feature a new "International Multicast" livestream comprised of the most interesting games and best moments, something which should be useful for those not interested in swapping between various livestreams during the busy playoffs. It's always pretty hectic trying to keep up to date when three or four different matches are happening at once, so it should be nice to have a Multicast stream complete with commentary and desk analysis.
An additional "Newcomers Broadcast" will also be available, featuring English commentary aimed at easing newer players into the complex and exciting world of competitive Dota.
In order to make The International 2014 the best possible experience for the live spectators attending the event in person, Valve are bringing back the Secret Shop merchandise shop as well as the digital Player Autographs and Workshop Creator Sessions from last year. An absolutely massive range of new Dota 2 themed merchandise will be debuted at the Secret Shop, including trading cards, daily gifts, vinyl miniature "Demiheroes", pins, even more plushies, clothing, masks, foam fingers, posters, and so much more.
If you're not going to be attending the event in person, all of the new merchandise will be made available on the Valve Store shortly after the conclusion of the event, while all of the in-game items included with those pieces of merchandise have already been added to the Dota 2 Store.
There's certainly a lot to take in, so be sure to check out the International Overview page and the Secret Shop catalog to find out everything you'll need to know for the event. Be sure to keep up to date with all the events surrounding TI4 with Valve's own Dota 2 Twitter, Facebook, Flickr, and Instagram pages. July 8th can't come soon enough.
