ESL announces $1m prize pool for 2015’s Dota 2 series

ESL continues a raft of big eSports investments today with news that the $250,000 ESL Frankfurt Dota tournament this June will be the first in a 12-month series totalling $1m in base prize money.

The announcement comes off the back of another $250,000 pledge to August’s ESL Cologne CS:GO tournament, and a UK-only CS:GO and League of Legends tournament to run at London’s MCM comic con.

The Dota series previously consisted of two events last year – one held in Frankfurt’s footbal stadium, the Commerzbank-Arena, and another in the theatre at New York’s Madison Square Gardens. This year, ESL hopes to continue to host Dota tournaments in other ‘iconic stadiums and arenas from around the world.’

“We’re starting with ESL One Frankfurt 2015 in June this year, where the prize money has been raised from $150,000 to $250,000,” said Ulrich Schulze, Managing Director of Pro Gaming at ESL. “We’re dedicated to pushing the boundaries, and giving players from around the world more chances to make their careers as professional gamers is a key aspect of that.”

Each event, of an undisclosed number, in the 12 months after this June’s kick-off tournament in Cologne will have a minimum pool of $250,000. According to ESL, this represents a quadrupling in investment from 2014’s Dota 2 series. It is not yet known if the pools will also feature a crowd-sourced component on top of this.