The viewership of the DotA 2 International 2014 reached new heights as over two million concurrent viewers watched Newbee take home the $5 million prize in the finals. Over the entire tournament, some 20 million people tuned in to watch some of the world's best DotA 2 players battle it out to see who was the best.
Well now we know, but it's the viewers that broke new ground, showing huge growth over last year's numbers, which were half of what they were this time around.
Viewers weren't the only record breakers with this competition though, as Valve's Compendium sales allowed it to provide the biggest prize pool of any esports tournament to date, ultimately dishing out over $10 million to players.
"From the success of the Compendium to the collaboration with ESPN, this year's International really demonstrates how much competitive gaming has grown to rival traditional sports," said Valve's Erik Johnson before the event.
"We believe the teams have also pushed to a new level of play this year and will further demonstrate the incredible advances made across this tournament since it first began three short years ago."
What will be interesting though, will be to see whether DotA 2's mammoth growth has cut into League of Legends' viewer numbers which peaked last year at 32 million for its World Championship matchups. It's prize pool was far smaller however, at just over $2 million.
Do you guys think League of Legends will have grown again this year? If so, will it be able to rival DotA 2's prize pool?
Image Source: Valve
