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