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The International: Streams, Secret Shop, and More



The best Dota players in the world have arrived in Copenhagen and the games are about to begin. That's right: The Road to TI's Group Stage is officially underway for The International 2024.

There's a lot of fun stuff to cover before the event starts, and not a lot of time, so we're gonna stop introducing the information and start the informing. Let's get to it.

[h3]Tournament Streams[/h3]
Group Stage is always glorious chaos. This year, almost fifty games will be played in the first two days alone, spread across three streams for each of the four official broadcast languages:

After Group Stage wraps up, starting Friday, September 6th, both The Road to the International and The International itself will broadcast on one stream per official language:

If you're looking for unofficial languages, we've got those, too. We've handed out more than a dozen broadcast licenses, ranging from Bulgarian to Vietnamese, so check in with your local Dota community to find the best way to watch online.

And as always, anyone is welcome to join in on the streaming fun. We only ask that you follow our community streaming guidelines.

[h3]The Secret Shop[/h3]
The International Secret Shop is once again open for business. We've got everything from mouse pads to jerseys to a real-life Toy Pudge plush, and so much more. There are two separate storefronts — We Are Nations offers both US deliveries and international deliveries, and Perfect World offers domestic China deliveries and international deliveries.

[h3]Tickets and Badges[/h3]
Ground-floor tickets for The International have sold out, and even arena seats are mostly gone, but there are still a few left.

For attendees:
  • Your Ticketmaster ticket can be used for re-entry. Just remember to scan out as you leave so you can re-enter later in the day if you’d like.
  • Each day of the event, you'll get a new commemorative badge with a unique code that can be registered to your Steam account for potential Crimson Witness treasure drops. (The URL for registration is on the badge.)

[h3]What Else?[/h3]
That's it for now. Honestly, that was a lot of information, and we're not going to lie, there might even be more on the way. But for now, don't worry about it. Just sit back, relax, and reread this blog post until you can recite it phonetically. We'll be calling everyone personally to verify you've got it memorized. You got this! Talk soon.

7.37c Gameplay Patch

Patch 7.37c is out now. You can check out the patchnotes here.

In-Game Advertisements at The International



The International is a celebration of Dota and the global community of players and fans who support it, providing a chance for everyone to come together and see it played at the highest possible level by the best teams in the world.

While the heart of The International is the community — everyone who makes a short film or a cosplay outfit or a T-shirt design, everyone who yells from the audience (or their couch) to cheer on their favorite team or hero — the matches they gather to watch are its core: When play begins, the focus is on the game itself and the players battling for victory.

Over the years, we've built a number of features into Dota to help celebrate these teams and players; unfortunately during that time we've seen those features increasingly being used not to showcase team or player identity, but rather to host advertisements. This year, to remove distracting elements and allow full focus on the game and the people playing it, we aren't going to have advertisements and sponsorships in-game at The International, including in team banners, base logos, and tags in player names.

We're only a few short weeks away from opening the curtain on this year's tournament. Whether you're meeting up in Denmark, or watching online, we'll see you soon.

Introducing The Ringmaster and the 2024 Compendium



The International doesn't just draw near. Like a supernatural clockwork carnival barker out in a dark forest, it beckons. We're two weeks away from the first games of The International Group Stage, and if you're a fan of professional esports, it's time to get excited. Floor tickets for all three days are sold out, but some arena seats are still available. Whether you've already bought your tickets or you're holding out until the last possible minute, we look forward to seeing you at Copenhagen's Royal Arena in September.

As our annual lead-up to the big event, we've just released this year's International Compendium. We even called in a favor with our newest old friend, who graciously volunteered to walk everyone through it. For those of you new to The International, the Compendium is a collection of activities and rewards focused on the players, teams, and matches in this year's tournament. Out-predict, out-fantasy, and out-bingo your friends while you watch — all while earning TI-themed rewards ranging from a new HUD to brand-new heroic effigies and a flashy new versus screen to show them off on.

Lastly, as you may have noticed by our clever introductory allusions, or by looking at the image above, or by clicking any of the links in this post, or by launching Dota before reading this, today's update also includes our newest hero: Cogliostro Kettle, The Ringmaster, has arrived. He's here, he's free, and he's available to all players right now.

But why introduce him further, when he's happy (believe us, more than happy) to introduce himself? Read on for his tragic backstory.

Black Myth: Wukong is currently Steam's most played game as it continues to break records

As I write this, Black Myth: Wukong, the action adventure from China’s Game Science studio, is the most played game on Steam by player count. There are currently 1,400,932 players in-game (with a peak of 1,443,570), surpassing the likes of Counter-Strike 2, Dota 2, PUBG and all the usual games that occupy Steam’s top five.

Wukong’s launch was already predicted to be strong, with the game being Steam’s number one seller for several weeks, but the concurrent player figures are quite staggering for a single-player, offline game.

Read more