Dota 2 Comes Home - TI 2025 Location and Dates Revealed

Once more The International returns as the biggest stage in Dota 2 esports, though this time the banners of battle will be raised in a familiar location dating back to the game’s earliest memories.
Valve is running things back, keeping part of the format from last year’s event and bringing The International 2025 (TI14) to Germany. This is the first time TI will return to Germany in over 14 years, and we have a bit more information about how things will go down in what Valve thinks will be a slightly bigger event than TI13.
When and Where is Dota 2’s The International 2025?
The International 2025 will take place at Barclays Arena in Hamburg, Germany from Sept. 11 to 14. That will likely only encompass the “main event” while the group stage and any seeding matches will be held in smaller arenas or without a live crowd.
This will be the first time TI has returned to Germany since TI1 in 2011, when Dota 2 wasn’t even officially released and the event was held during GamesCom in Cologne.
The International 2025 — Barclays Arena, Hamburg, Germany — September 11-14, 2025 — 16 Teams via direct invites, regional qualifiers and open qualifiers. Mark your calendars. #TI14 #Dota2 pic.twitter.com/PZsH7BCrhR
— Wykrhm Reddy (@wykrhm) January 22, 2025
“The stars have aligned and the stage is once again being set for cosmic battle. And this time, that battle has returned to where it all began: Germany, the site of The International's humble debut on the world stage, where it was watched in person by many tens of people,” Valve said. “Now, fourteen years later, The International returns to Germany, to Hamburg's Barclays Arena September 11 - 14 — in front of, we trust, a slightly bigger crowd this time around.”
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Dota 2 The International 2025 Format and Tickets
We don’t have the exact specifics for things like prize pool or other features, but Valve has confirmed that TI14 will retain last year’s format for picking teams. That means the 16 teams competing at TI this year will be selected via open qualifiers, regional qualifiers, and direct invitations.
Valve does not publicly disclose how its invite process works, though we should learn more about the qualifier calendar closer to June when the company begins locking down dates.
With this update, Valve also kept silent on any changes to TI’s crowd funding structure. TI13 had the lowest total prize pool of any TI event since the original in 2011 at $2,776,566 as the number dropped for a third straight year—with nothing likely to change as the developers are focusing on more frequent updates rather than a battle pass tied to the game’s biggest esport event.