Valve’s Dota 2 eSports Championships lure professionals with gigantic $20m purse
Chinese team Wings Gaming has taken home the largest ever prize in eSports after toppling US team Digital Chaos in a best of five heat playing Valve's strategy game Dota 2.
Dota 2
A combined kitty of over $20m was offered by Valve, a figure that puts professional gaming the global big leagues.
To put the kitty into perspective, elite tennis tournament Wimbledon offered a combined pool of £28.1m ($36.28) in 2016. Gentlemen's and Ladies' Singles Champions went home with $2.58m a piece.
Wings’ $9.1m prize almost matches the $10m purse split between 66 golfers in the 2016 US open, just hinting at the swelling capital behind eSports.
The Dota 2 Championships winners went home with $9.1m in prize money after becoming the surprise winners of the tournament – the is reported to be the largest cash prize in eSports. That fee will be split between the five team members in addition to other expenses, likely seeing each gamer clearing in well excess on $1m each.
The team's victory has been well summarised by Mashable with with the use of gif footage.
Runners up DC earned $3.4m from its participation.