Dota 2’s The International 2023: Location, dates, tickets, and more

The International, also known as TI, is the pinnacle community event and esports tournament for Dota 2. After a season of accumulating points via the Dota Pro Circuit (DPC) and last-chance regional qualifiers, 18 teams converge for two weeks of high-stakes Dota in one of the world’s biggest esports tournaments.

Thanks to The International Compendium and Battle Pass allowing the community to contribute to the prize pool, teams often play for some of the largest cash prizes in esports history. 2021’s edition of The International saw squads battle for a record $40,018,195 USD, with winners Team Spirit pocketing just over $18 million USD.

Only one team each year can lift the Aegis of Champions at TI, and etch their names into Dota history in front of thousands of fans in live attendance and millions more online.

When will Dota 2’s The International 2023 take place?

Valve’s May 7 blog post revealed more information about The International 2023, with October 14, 2023, marked as the beginning of TI’s group stage.

This year’s tournament features a new format and schedule: Instead of a two-week long tournament with a week’s worth of playoff matches in the arena, the event will now be played out over three subsequent weekends.

The group stage remains, but instead of two groups of 10, we will now see the teams make up four groups of five. After playing out a full best-of-two round-robin, the bottom team is eliminated, and the remaining teams are reseeded into a final playoff best-of-three against teams from the other groups.

16 teams will progress to the playoffs, with eight starting in the upper bracket and eight in the lower. In a two-stage playoff, the top four from the upper and lower brackets move on to The International main event—eight teams, three days, and one champion.

The final three days of the playoffs will take place on October 27 to 29.

Where will The International 2023 be played?

The 2023 iteration of The International will be held in Seattle, WA, in the U.S.

After the tournament’s launch in Germany in 2011, Seattle has been the home of The International dating back to the early days of professional Dota, with 2012’s TI2 held at Benaroya Hall. The tournament quickly outgrew the hall, moving into the much larger KeyArena in 2014.

TI became truly international in 2018, with TI8 held in Vancouver, Canada. The International has since taken place in numerous countries, including Romania, China, and Singapore.

The group stage (Oct. 12-15) for 2023’s iteration will be played behind closed doors. The top 16 progress to the playoffs (Oct. 20-22) at the Seattle Convention Center’s Summit Building, with the top eight moving to the main event (Oct. 27-29) in the KeyArena, now known as the Climate Pledge Arena.

Can I buy tickets to attend The International 2023?

Tickets for The International will go on sale on Aug. 25 and Aug. 28, according to a Valve blog post on Aug. 18. While the group stage will not be open for public viewing, tickets will be sold for both the playoffs in the Convention Center’s Summit Building and the main event in the Climate Pledge Arena.

All tickets will go on sale via Ticketmaster. Below you’ll find the times and dates for when each ticket is available for purchase.

• The Road to The International (Playoffs) at Seattle Convention Center’s Summit Building
  • Tickets will go on sale on Aug. 28 at 12pm CT.
  • A limit of five tickets per transaction.
  • Tickets will be sold for each individual day of the event.
  • Price: $99 USD + fees/ticket.
• The International (Main Event) at Climate Pledge Arena
  • Tickets will go on sale on Aug. 25 at 12pm CT.
  • A limit of five tickets per transaction.
  • Three-day pass for the full event only, no individual day tickets.
  • Price: $699 USD + fees/ticket.
  • Each ticket with a connected Steam account will grant the owner a Treasure of the Crimson Witness 2023: scanning in and entering the arena during matches has a chance to drop more throughout the event.

All teams qualified for The International 2023

Teams qualify for The International via the Dota Pro Circuit. Points are earned based on placings at regional tours and seasonal Majors, with the top 12 teams after the final Major earning a direct invitation to Seattle in October.

Below are the current DPC Tour Points standings—at this stage, all 12 invite slots have been locked in.

The remaining teams were made to fight their way through the brutal regional qualifiers. Western Europe and South America fought over two spots, while the remaining regions—North America, Eastern Europe, China, and Southeast Asia—received just one final ticket to TI.

With hundreds of teams contesting and only eight making the cut, it meant for some intense Dota with fan favorites and strong contenders left to wonder “what if.”

The final regional qualifiers for The International 2023 include: