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Tickets for the world's biggest e-sports tournament go on sale today

Tickets for the world's biggest e-sports tournament go on sale today

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Dota 2 fans, set your alarms for 10AM Pacific Time

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If you have $99, a passion for Dota 2, and the means to travel to Seattle this August, listen up. The fifth annual tournament for the biggest prize in e-sports, Dota's Aegis of Champions, will take place between the 3rd and 8th of August at Seattle's KeyArena, and tickets are going on sale from 10AM Pacific Time (1PM ET) today.

Last year, The International 4 attracted the biggest prize fund in competitive gaming history — overshadowing even some of the best established pro sports — and this year's TI5 is likely to go even higher than that impressive $10 million mark. The funds for the 2014 edition were built up primarily through contributions from casual players and fans, who bought in-game items that supported the prize kitty. Their number has since swollen from roughly eight million to just under 11 million regular Dota players today, suggesting there'll be plenty of interest for tickets to this year's big event.

Playing games in front of millions of fans for millions of dollars

Valve, the company responsible for developing Dota 2 and organizing The International, will be making tickets available in two batches, one at 10AM PT and another at 10PM PT. All tickets cost $99 each and provide full access to the six-day, 16-team main event. There's a limit of five tickets per household across the two batches, probably to preempt any attempts at buying them in bulk and reselling at an inflated price later. Last year's TI4 sold out within an hour in spite of being the first time Valve was trying to fill a venue as large as the 17,000-seat KeyArena.

Update: According to a statement from tournament organizers, the first batch of tickets "went on sale at 10AM Pacific time this morning and were sold out by 10:06."

Verge Video archive: Valve's $10 million tournament of the future, The International (2014)