As with years gone by, Valve has offered up a "Battle Pass" system to fans of DotA 2 in order to unlock innumerable extras in the MOBA title, as well as help fund the prize pool for its The International DotA 2 world championship tournament. As usual, it is ahead of last year's funding by 5.4 percent, though as PCGamesN points out, with just $500,000 between this year and last's funds, it could be that we're starting to hit a limit of how much people are willing to spend.
The Battle Pass system is something that Valve has curated over several years of International competition and is par for the course with Valve these days. It gamifies the unlocking of extra content for DotA 2, while charging time or money for it. $10 gets you the ability to level up and a Compendium for when the tournament starts, after which additional funds or time spent in game unlocks more levels for more unlockables. It's a cycle of dopamine drips that is all too common in modern gaming and Valve takes full advantage of it.
Every year we saw more money donated to the fund, but with only 25 percent of all investments in the Battle Pass going to DotA 2 gamers, Valve earns tens of millions of dollars from that one trick.
Still, there is a lot for gamers to enjoy. There are new game modes that turn DotA 2 into more of a Battle Royale like experience, centered around cheese. There's a battle cavern mode, new mutation mode gameplay, hundreds of aesthetic and auditory unlocks for different heroes, custom lane creeps, in-game tipping, new matchmaking queues to enjoy, betting systems, new couriers, emotes, and if you get to the very top level, physical statues to receive.
At the time of writing, the total for this year's International sits at $10.6 million.
