The release of Dota 2‘s 2023 Compendium sparked intense debates among fans. While many were unhappy about the lack of skins, popular streamer Janne “Gorgc” Stefanovski brought TI12’s prize pool to light yesterday during a livestream, preparing Dota 2 players for a harsh reality.
While browsing through the Dota 2 section of Reddit, Gorgc stumbled upon a thread estimating TI12’s prize pool. Based on the first two days of sales, a fan predicted that TI12 would have a prize pool close to $5 million, a highly optimistic target, according to Gorgc.
Upon examining the graph himself, Gorgc noticed that Dota 2’s TI12 prize pool was already flatlining.
“This graph will never reach $5 million with how it looks right now,” Gorgc said. The content creator highlighted the Compendium’s limited time for fundraising compared to previous editions. With two weeks to go until TI12, the International 2023’s prize pool is set to return the competition to its 2013 levels when the tournament had a close to $3 million prize pool.
While it’s true that the 2023 Compendium had less time to generate funds before TI, its release with no real content disappointed Dota 2 players, negatively impacting sales. Valve promised gameplay updates in exchange for winding down TI, but many considered the battle pass replacement as disrespectful to Dota 2 players.
This sentiment was further reflected in sales figures, with even dedicated spenders choosing to keep their wallets shut in 2023.
In previous years, a Dota 2 player claiming to be a Saudi Prince spent over $6,000 on The International 2020 Battle Pass to purchase 10,000 levels or more, and the same player now sits at 300 Compendium levels, totaling his 2023 investments at a modest $200.
