
Another year, another Dota 2 season and a fresh edition of The International in 2025, with Valve now sharing the first details about this year’s event.
Valve hosts one of the hottest esports events of the year around every September: The International. Dota 2 teams from all over the world compete to be one of the top sides qualifying the main event and a shot at the Aegis of Champions, along with a share of the notable prize pool. Ever since TI 2024 ended in Copenhagen, Dota 2 fans have been eagerly awaiting any news of the next tournament.
Now, the dates and location of The International 2025 have been revealed. Fans can start considering travel plans, while players and teams will have a better idea of what they’ll be aiming for.
Over a decade after the very first such event was held, The International will take place in Hamburg, Germany for its 2025 edition.
Valve announced that The International 2025 would take place in Hamburg at the Barclay Arena there. Teams will compete from September 11-14 after qualifying through direct invites, regional qualifiers, and open qualifiers. Last year, Valve announced its invited teams in the summer after a full season of competition, and fans can expect the same this year.
While ticket prices are still unknown, a three-day pass for 2024’s tournament cost approximately $660. It isn’t likely that this amount will markedly decrease for the new season. Fortunately, as in previous years, international fans will be able to stream The International 2025 online to catch all of the action from home.
Valve hosted the first TI event in Cologne, Germany back in 2011 to celebrate the game’s release. With a $1 million prize and 16 teams competing, Natus Vincere took hold of the gold in front of “tens of people,” the TI press release joked. Despite its humble beginnings, the tournament brought in over 1.5 million concurrent viewers in 2024. 2025 could even top this number if the hosts drum up enough interest.
Though the competitive Dota 2 scene is just kicking off for 2025, some long-standing teams are early favorites to qualify.
Team Liquid took home their second The International win in 2024, after its first title was captured in 2017 with a very different roster. It were one of six teams to receive a direct invite from Valve due to its killer performance during the season. Liquid took down Gaimin Gladiators in a 3-0 match to clench victory. Unless the players perform incredibly poorly this year, it’ll likely reach The International 2025 through qualifiers if not a direct invitation.
Another likely contender is Team Falcons. Many pinned them as the favorite for TI 2024 after the team took home first-place trophies in several international tournaments, but they ultimately finished in fourth. Team Falcons additionally received an invite last year and is consistently strong in top competitions.
Some teams are putting their faith into a complete roster shake-up. NaVi emptied out almost its entire roster of Dota 2 players in October and only filled the empty positions in late November. Since then, it has placed first at PGL Wallachia Season 3 before finishing in the middle of the pack at ESL One Raleigh 2025.
Two-time winner Team Spirit recently welcomed back Ilya “Yatoro” Mulyarchuk and other previously inactive players. The team has since placed first in both of the January 2025 tournaments it competed in, including ESL One Raleigh 2025.
Fans have plenty more professional tournaments to look forward to before The International 2025. This early on, it’s anyone’s game, and there will surely be some upsets in store when the latest edition of the famed event rolls around.
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