Cover-Credits:
The rivalry between League of Legends and Dota 2 has been widely discussed within the realm of Multiplayer Online Battle Arena (MOBA) video games, perpetually fueling passionate debates among fans. Although both do have their areas of success and failure, the prize pools of their most significant tournaments, The International (TI) for Dota 2 and the World Championship for League of Legends, have been one aspect where the former has been emerging victorious for the last 11 years.
However, it appears that history is about to be made, as the prize pool for the League of Legends World Championship might surpass that of TI for the first time since 2012. While TI12's prize pool numbers have been trickling in and stand just near $3 Million at the time of writing, Riot Games recently released special sets for the World Championship 2023, a portion of whose proceeds will add to the initially allocated $2.25 million USD prize pool and potentially take it a lot further.
The 2023 esports competitive season may see Worlds surpass TI in prize pool
This year's Dota 2 Compendium is being bought at a pace not seen in the past few years after Valve set the base prize pool for TI12 at $1,600,000 like always. The lack of Arcanas, Immortal Treasures, and some novel sets and items, among other things, has been the fundamental reason for this slow growth.
Meanwhile, the basic $2.25 million prize pool for Worlds 2023 has been allocated, and Riot Games recently revealed that the Worlds in-game event is due to begin on 11th Oct 2023, with its own bundles and cosmetic items for players to buy and enjoy while also contributing to the prize pool. Here are the proceeds from the different Worlds 2023’s content that go to the teams:
Worlds 2023 Pass Bundle (≈$20): 25%
Worlds 2023 Premium Pass Bundle (≈$45): 50%
Worlds 2023 Renekton (≈$10): 25%
Worlds 2023 Team Icons/Emotes: 100%
While TI12 is currently ahead of Worlds 2023 by a small percentage, the latter's in-game event begins in a day's time, which is expected to catapult it. TI12 will take place from 12th to 19th Oct, 2023, but Worlds takes place from 10th Oct to 19th Nov 2023, with the event culminating on 4th Dec, therefore League of Legends has a lot more time to drive more revenue into Worlds.
While Valve is also expected to boost TI12’s prize pool by selling Compendium levels at a discount in the coming days, it appears to be an intense battle this time. With the exception of 2012, Dota 2 has handily defeated League of Legends in past years, as seen by the TI and Worlds prize pool statistics below.
The insanely funded TI has created plenty of interest for Dota 2 over the last 12 years. Despite having a huge user and viewer base, League of Legends lost the battle here these last 11 years, but this might finally be the year history is rewritten. In the next 40 days, there is a lot to look forward to in the MOBA esports circuit.
