The International 2023 — Schedule & Format

Author: Hawk Live LLC

Last updated: 05:47, 22.12.2025

Valve on their blog talked about the schedule and the new format of The International 2023 and how they came to such decisions.

This year, the goal of the developers of Dota 2 is to improve the viewing experience of The International for a wide range of fans. Valve, admitted that although the format is not perfect, they tried to find a balance between good experiences from the past and even better ideas for the future.

Schedule

The schedule of the tournament this year will be significantly different from the previous ones. Since the majority of fans who watch The International like to watch games live, the organizers have tried to give this opportunity to as many people as possible.

The schedule is built in such a way that almost every game will be held over a Friday-through-Sunday weekend break.

All games will be played in three periods:

Group stage (October 12-15)
Playoffs (October 20-22)
The Finals (October 27-29)

The Road to The International

To make it easier for new fans who have recently started to follow the professional Dota 2 scene, Valve this year we have divided The International into two phases with different names.

"The Road To The International" - includes a group stage and playoffs, will show the whole drama of the confrontation between the twenty best teams in Dota, fighting each other for a place at The International itself, where the remaining eight will fight for the Aegis of Champions.

Group Stage

Valve decided that the old system, two groups of ten teams, had many drawbacks and was not suitable for such a large tournament.

Instead of two groups of ten teams playing for four days, four groups of five will now play for two, with the bottom team in each group getting eliminated. This means that every team will now only play four games instead of the previous nine, making every game impactful to a team’s final standings in the group.

The International 2023 - Group Stage Format

Additionally, the second half of Group Stage is now composed of head-to-head matches between the remaining 16 teams, which will decide which teams enter the Playoffs in the Upper Bracket.

Playoffs

Playoffs kick off on October 20th at the Seattle Convention Center’s Summit. On Friday, the top eight teams will compete for four Upper Bracket slots of The International, followed by a series of knockout matches on Saturday and Sunday to determine the four finalists in the lower bracket.

The International

The top eight teams will play at the Climate Pledge Arena, October 27th to 29th. On Friday and Saturday there will be four Bo3 matches. On Sunday, the Lower Bracket Finals will be played, and then the Grand Final of The International in the Bo5 format.

We’re thrilled to bring you year twelve of The International. It’s our goal to make every incarnation as exciting for invested fans as it is welcoming for newer players.

Tickets for both The Road To The International’s Playoff Stage at The Seattle Convention Center’s Summit, and The International itself at Climate Pledge Arena, will go on sale in the second half of August. We'll post additional details as soon as we get them.