The International 2016

The KeyArena in Seattle, the venue where the tournament took place

As with previous years of the tournament, a corresponding battle pass for Dota 2 was released before the event, allowing the prize pool to be crowdfunded by players of the game.[4] Known as the "Compendium", 25% of revenue made by it was sent towards the tournament's prize pool, with the other 75% being used by Valve to cover production costs.[4][5]

The tournament initially began with the Americas, China, Europe, and Southeast Asia open region qualifiers in June.[6] The winners of each region then went on to the main qualifiers, which also took place in June. Winners of the regional qualifier earned an invite to the main event, while a secondary playoff bracket took place for teams in 2nd–5th place, with the winner of those also earning an invite. Six teams were directly invited without need for qualifying, which was based on consistently good results at previous Dota 2 events.[7] However, The International 2015 champion team Evil Geniuses did not receive a direct invite due to breaking Valve's rules on roster swapping after the completion of the last premier Dota 2 tournament, the Manila Major, in June.[8] They and Team Secret, who also broke the same rule, were forced to make their way through the open and main qualifiers, eventually finishing first in their respective regions, gaining an invite.[9][10] Two teams from the Philippines, TnC Gaming and Execration, had issues securing travel visas to the United States, but were eventually able to get them one week before the event due to assistance from Filipino senator Bam Aquino.[11]

The main event began in Seattle with the wild card matches on August 2, with the EHOME and Escape Gaming advancing to the round robin group stage the following day.[12] The round robin group stage consisted of two groups of eight teams, with the top four teams of each group advancing to the upper bracket of the best-of-three double elimination main event, and the bottom four advancing to the lower bracket.[12] The Grand Finals, consisting of the winners of the upper and lower brackets, took place in a best-of-five series between Wings Gaming and Digital Chaos, with the former winning the series 3–1.[12][13]

All matches consisted of two games against the same opponent in a round robin format for each group, with two points being awarded for a 2–0 sweep, one point awarded for a 1–1 draw, and no points awarded for a 0–2 loss.[14]

(Note: Prizes are in USD)[16]

The crowdfunded prize pool of US$20,770,460 surpassed the previous International's total of $18.4 million, overtaking it as the largest esports tournament prize pool in history until being surpassed by the following year's International.[4][17][18][19] The venue where the event took place, the KeyArena in Seattle, was sold out, with millions of additional spectators watching the event via livestreaming platforms worldwide.[20] The tournament's opening ceremony featured Valve president Gabe Newell, who called the event a "high point of the year" for everybody at the company, as well as violinist Lindsey Stirling, who performed some of the game's soundtrack on stage.[21] The tournament was considered to be one of the best in esports history, with multiple upsets and underdog teams performing well throughout.[22][23] Production values of the tournament itself were also praised, with Valve, the game's developer and event organizer, implementing technologies such as augmented reality (AR) into the live broadcast, which showed the game's playable characters on screen as if they there in person.[20]

Cinderella teams TnC Gaming and Digital Chaos, who were both projected to finish near the bottom of the final standings, exceeded expectations, with the latter eventually reaching the Grand Finals, finishing as the tournament's runner-up.[24][25] Game one of the upper bracket series between Evil Geniuses and EHOME was thought by Patrick Hancock of Destructoid to be more exciting than any traditional sporting match he had ever seen, with him comparing moments during the game to famous American football plays such as the Helmet Catch.[26] Seattle KCPQ reporter Kaci Aitchison, who co-hosted the event, thought that due to the International's large prize pools and production values, esports had become a true spectator sport which deserved the same level of respect of traditional sports.[20]

Outside of the tournament's games, other related competitions were held, including a Dota 2-themed short film contest and a cosplay competition, with each having their own independent winners and prize pools.[27][28] In addition, two new playable characters for the game itself were revealed during the event, with the latter also featuring an accompanying martial arts performance.[29][30]

• Official website