Dota 2 The International 2025: Schedule, prize pool, and more
Summary
The International 2025 returned to Germany (Hamburg) — the first time since the inaugural TI in 2011 — and ran from 4–14 September. Valve ran a revised three-stage format: a Swiss stage (five rounds of Bo3), an elimination round to filter the remaining teams, and an eight-team double-elimination main event culminating in a best-of-five grand final.
The event fielded 16 teams (eight invited, eight via regional qualifiers). Team Falcons beat Xtreme Gaming 3-2 in the grand final. Valve funded the prize pool via Talent and Team packs: 50% of pack sales go to teams/talent, 30% to the prize pool, and the base pool started at $1.6 million. Matches were streamed on official Dota 2 channels on Twitch and YouTube, with the Barclays Arena in Hamburg hosting the main event.
Key Points
- TI 2025 used a Swiss bracket to kick off: 16 teams, five Bo3 rounds, seeding after round one based on records.
- Top three teams from the Swiss (4-1) advanced directly to the main event; bottom three (0-4) were eliminated; the middle 10 went to the elimination round.
- The elimination round paired highest- and lowest-seeded teams from the Swiss in Bo3 elimination matches — five winners advanced to complete the final eight.
- Main event was double-elimination with Bo3s and a Bo5 grand final; Team Falcons won the title over Xtreme Gaming (3-2).
- 16-team field: eight invited squads (including Team Liquid, Tundra, Team Spirit) and eight regional-qualifier teams from regions such as Western Europe, Southeast Asia, China and others.
- Schedule: Swiss + elimination rounds ran 4–7 Sept; main event ran 11–14 Sept at Barclays Arena, Hamburg.
- Prize pool mechanics: base $1.6M; additional funds come from sales of the compendium-style Talent and Team packs (30% of pack sales to prize pool).
- Official live streams were available on Dota 2’s Twitch and YouTube channels — these remain the most reliable sources for live coverage and VODs.
Why should I read this?
Want the full TI lowdown without wading through match pages? Here’s the clutch version: format changes, dates, who qualified, who won, and how the money is stacked. If you care about brackets, prize mechanics, or catching the best matches live — this saves you time and gets you straight to the bits that matter.
Author style
Punchy: this is the big Dota party of the year — if you follow competitive Dota, you don’t want to miss the format shifts, the standout results (Team Falcons lifting the trophy) or the prize-pool mechanics that still shape team economics. Read the detail if you care about implications for the next season; skim if you just want the highlights.
Context and relevance
The International sets the tone for the competitive Dota calendar: format tweaks influence team preparation, the prize-pool funding model affects how orgs and talent monetise, and results shift the meta and roster moves going into the next cycle. Hosting TI in Germany again ties back to Dota’s early international history and helps re-establish a major European LAN hub after several years.
This coverage is useful for fans, players, orgs and analysts tracking competitive structure, prize distribution and major results from the 2025 season.
Source
Source: https://dotesports.com/dota-2/news/dota-2-the-international-2025-schedule-prize-pool