Dota 2 Featured in CNN, eSports Going Mainstream?

With over $18 million (P970 million~) prize pool, Dota 2 reached the mainstream media. American news channel, The Cable News Network (CNN), reported Dota 2’s most prestigious tournament and tackled the future of competitive gaming industry.

Dota 2 is a popular multiplayer video game which was described as ‘a mixture of Chess and Capture the Flag’, according to CNN. It has over 10 million unique players in-game and it is no surprise that The International gathered millions of viewership on the video game streaming site, Twitch, and even on YouTube.

Valve, a video game development and distribution company, is the organizer of The International. They used crowdfunding for the tournament where players buy a compendium for $10 (P490~) and 25% of the payment will go to the current prize pool. It was truly ground-breaking that it even exceeded last year’s record of $10 million (P450 million~).

There is a huge prize pool and stream viewership in Dota 2, it is only a matter of time before mainstream media took notice. Last year, sports channel, ESPN, broadcast the Grand Finals of The International in their site (ESPN.com).

CNN also delved into the whole eSports community, from the professional players to the industry itself. They invited Twitch’s Director of Programming, Marcus ‘djWHEAT‘ Graham to talk  about the similarities of professional players to athletes. Professional players develop strategies to be used during matches and they have training routines like watching replays and practice matches. Competitive gaming is slowly turning into a serious sport that in next year players are required to undergo a doping test.

Toyota Canada also started to acknowledge the eSports industry and even showed support to their fellow Canadian professional players.

Good luck to our Canadian players @Arteezy & @Aui_2000! @DOTA2 @EvilGeniuses @TeamSecretDOTA2 #ti5 #canadianesports

— Toyota Canada (@ToyotaCanada) August 6, 2015

In other parts of the world, the Malaysian government already recognized eSports under the Sports Commission of Malaysia and has eSports Malaysia (eSM) as their governing body. eSM aims to develop the gaming industry in the country, the same goal as the Korea eSports Association (KeSPA), eSM’s counterpart in Korea.

djWHEAT emphasized on the global reach of eSports that through this, the eSports industry will continue to grow. “This [eSports] is something that is real, it’s here to stay and we hope that people take it seriously,” djWHEAT said.

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DOTA 2 ON CNN NEWSDota2: $18 Million Dollar Tournament Prize Pool Possible ng i-air on television. Good news for Dota2 players!#THEFUTUREOFDOTA2 #CNN #TI5

Posted by Pinoy Dota Store on Friday, August 7, 2015

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