One of the biggest e-sports organizations in the world is putting extra cash into backing one of the most popular competitive games.
ESL says today that it will award $1 million in prize money for its events for publisher Valve’s multiplayer online arena battler Dota 2. The company plans to hold at least four different competitions for the MOBA, and ESL is planning to have a minimum prize pool of $250,000 for each. The ESL Dota 2 season will start in June, and it will continue through the following 12 months. E-sports is a growing sector of gaming, and ESL is one of the companies responsible for pushing it forward. E-sports generated $194 million in revenue last year, according to industry-research firm Newzoo.
[aditude-amp id="flyingcarpet" targeting='{"env":"staging","page_type":"article","post_id":1667284,"post_type":"story","post_chan":"none","tags":null,"ai":false,"category":"none","all_categories":"games,","session":"C"}']In a statement, ESL pro gaming managing director Ulrich Schulze said that the company is “starting with ESL One Frankfurt 2015 in June this year, where the prize money has been raised from $150,000 to $250,000.”
This puts ESL just behind Valve and the Dota Asian Championships in terms of prize pool size.
“ESL One is here to set a new standard for professional Dota 2 events at this level,” said Schulze. “We’re dedicated to pushing the boundaries, and giving players from around the world more chances to make their careers as professional gamers is a key aspect of that.”
Dota 2 is a top draw in terms of online viewership on video sites like Twitch. It is also responsible for the largest prize pool in e-sports history when publisher Valve, which owns and operates Dota 2, held its 2014 International championship event and awarded more than $10 million in prizes. That surpassed even the largest ever pro golf tournament.
For comparison, developer Riot’s largest ever prize pool for its League of Legends MOBA was last year’s $2.1 million championship.