The 2016 'Dota 2' International breaks the record for esports prize pools

The biggest annual Dota 2 tournament, The International, has broken its own record for the highest prize pool in esports ever, topping last year's $18,429,613 pool Tuesday. The prize pool is still climbing and was at $18,679,270 at the time of publishing.

Since the first International tournament in 2011, developer Valve has put up a $1.6 million prize pool, and starting in 2013, Valve started selling compendiums to players with 25 percent of revenue going toward The International's prize pool.

These compendiums (now called "battle passes") give players access to unique character items and other cosmetic goodies, like character taunts, emoticons, music and more.

This year, fans have purchased enough battle passes to bring over $17 million to the prize pool, which is more than a 1,000 percent increase over Valve's contribution.

With huge prize pools like these, all teams placing first through fourth have won over $1 million. The International champions of 2015, Evil Geniuses, took home $6.6 million alone. This makes Dota 2 the most lucrative esport for top-performing teams.

Outside of a couple major tournaments each year, most Dota 2 tournaments don't reach $300,000 prize pools. In other esports, like League of Legends and Counter-Strike: Global Offensive, it's hard to find a tournament with a prize pool above $2 million.

There are still two weeks until the sixth International finals takes place in Seattle on Aug. 13. The tournament begins Aug. 3 with 16 teams from across the globe, and will be broadcast in the Dota 2 client and on Twitch.