Valve has revealed the schedule and format of The International 2025, which is changing a bit as Dota 2 esports is working to improve the stakes of the competition throughout the entirety of it.
To begin with, The International 2025 will start with a five-round Swiss bracket that’s known as The Road to the International. The first three days will see the 16 teams in the competition compete in best-of-three matches.
Teams will be put against teams that have the same series record. Teams that take a fourth win during this will automatically advance to The International 2025. Likewise, a team that hits four losses will automatically be eliminated.
Ultimately, that means three teams will advance with four wins. Three teams will also have been defeated with four losses, leaving 10 teams behind. These 10 teams will compete in a special elimination round where the strongest teams go against the weakest. The top five teams will advance to The International.
The eight teams that go to The International 2025 will start in a double-elimination bracket that’s determined by performance during The Road to The International. These will all be best-of-three matches until the Grand Finals, which will be best-of-five.
The goal of these changes is to create a tournament where every game matters. In the past, games haven’t all held the same significance, and Valve wants to remedy that.
The Road to the International will take place from September 4 to September 7. The International 2025 itself will go from September 11 to September 14. This will be held at Barclays Arena in Germany, as was announced previously.
That’s not all for Dota 2 esports this year — Dota 2 will be part of the 2025 Esports World Cup this summer as well.
