Details Revealed for The International 2025 Dota 2 Tournament

The International 2025, a premier Dota 2 event, is scheduled to take place in Hamburg, Germany at the Barclays Arena. This year, Valve plans to invite eight teams directly to the tournament while another eight spots will be filled through open and closed qualifiers. Especially notable this year is the dominance of European teams in the competitive Dota 2 scene, with six out of the eight direct invites hailing from this region.

Tournament Structure

The tournament is set to span 11 days, kicking off on September 4 and wrapping up on September 14, 2025. Valve has chosen to divide the competition into two primary stages, starting with “The Road to The International”.

The first stage, scheduled from September 4 to September 7, will incorporate a new five-round Swiss bracket format, replacing the traditional group stage method seen in previous tournaments. This stage is designed to narrow down the pool of 16 participating teams to the top contenders. Teams initially play best-of-three matches, with same-record teams facing each other. Any team that achieves four wins secures a place in the playoffs, while those who suffer four losses will be excluded from the event.

Following this, the remaining 10 teams will take part in elimination rounds, where higher-ranked teams are pitted against their lower-ranked counterparts. The five winners from these rounds proceed to the playoffs, while the remaining five are eliminated.

The International Playoffs

The main event, dubbed ‘The International Playoffs’, will be held over four days from September 11 to 14, 2025. This stage will present the final eight teams within a double-elimination bracket arrangement. The ranking of each team is decided according to its performance in the previous stage. All matches during this phase are best-of-three, except for the Grand Finals, which will be a best-of-five setup – culminating on Sunday, September 14.

Rationale behind Changes

Valve introduced the new format with the intention of instilling a competitive edge to each match. The company believes that this approach will enable fans to keep track of their preferred team’s engagement schedule and also eliminates any chance for a team with a winning streak to play two consecutive series. While the invites for The International 2025 are not yet disclosed, this tournament usually showcases the top 16 Dota 2 teams worldwide, adhering to the traditional structure.