TI8 will feature a “subterranean” visual theme

Valve always revolves The International’s visuals around a color or central theme. Last year at TI7 it was an aquatic motif, with seafoam green and ocean blue dominating the video transitions on stream, the banners adorning KeyArena, and even the map’s terrain.

For this year, The International will be going with what Valve calls a “subterranean” theme, with crystalline green serving as the primary color. The theme was revealed earlier today via a post on the game’s Steam Community group.

The post also doubled as a call to artists and content creators in the Dota 2 community to submit their designs for the 2018 Collector’s Cache. The Collector’s Cache is an International-only loot box that contains cosmetic items and item sets for a handful of heroes. Valve made a point to mention the subterranean theme in the announcement, so that artists aspiring to get their works into TI8 can weave the associated colors and imagery into their submissions.

Over the last few iterations of the event, the Collector’s Cache was made available only to those that purchased the TI Battle Pass for that year—and this year’s version will likely be the same.

The submission period starts today, and will run until May 13. Although Valve reminded creators to keep to the theme, it seems that the Dota 2 publisher is encouraging them to think outside the box and not just stick to making items for heroes that are already designed to be underground dwellers. Interested parties may submit their designs through the Steam Workshop.

In addition, Valve also teased some upcoming physical merchandise for TI8. Just like the Collector’s Cache, artists may also submit their own designs for merchandise through the Workshop. If previous tournaments are anything to go by, most (if not all) pieces of TI8 merch will be sold at the Rogers Arena and online through the Valve Store.