Valve announced the starting prize pool for The International 2026

Valve added a The International 2026 tab in the Dota 2 client, where the starting prize pool is set at $1.6 million

These are guaranteed winnings that participants will get even if the prize pool is not increased. However in previous years the world championship usually reached much higher numbers thanks to Compendium or Battle Pass sales

Last year the prize pool was $2,881,791. It’s quite possible that this year the pool will also be increased through a Compendium focused on esports content with contributions from teams

For now analysts believe that the TI15 prize pool will hardly exceed the $2.8 million mark