This week sees Valve's annual DotA 2 championship, The International, kick off with gusto, as the best teams from around the world battle it out to see who can become the very best and take home a monster share of the most monstrous prize pool we've ever seen in professional gaming.
Over the course of the next four days, a total of $20,129,334 will be awarded to the 18 competing teams, though the winners will take home the most impressive prize at $8,856,967. That's not far off $2 million per player - quite a reward.
Runners up will split an also impressive, $3.3 million prize, while third, and fourth settle for $2.1 and $1.4 million a piece. Although far less than the grand prize, each of those is more than enough to fund a team for a year or more, which keeps them in the top tier of play for the foreseeable future - at least you would hope so.
Competing teams this year around include Team Liquid, Newbee, OG, LGD Gaming, Team Secret, MVP Phoenix, Natus Vincere, Wings Gaming, Alliance, Evil Geniuses, TNC Gaming, Vici Gaming Reborn, Digital Chaos, EHome, Escape Gaming and Fnatic, as well as Wild card additions: Complexity Gaming and Execration.
If you want to watch along there are a number of ways to do so. Watch Live Streams on Twitch, Youtube or WatchESPN, in person if you have a ticket - though accommodation may be hard to find now - in-game using the DotA 2 client, or better yet in virtual reality, where you can view along with other VR fans, as well as get up close and personal with the action.
If you live in a big city, there's probably a few sports bars covering it too.
How do you plan to watch The International?
