CSGO Majors Need Higher Prize Pools from Valve
It’s no secret that CSGO fans and players are frustrated with Valve’s handling of their scene.
From their hands-off approach to the almost two years it took for them to release a new in-game Operation event, Valve has often been accused of treating CSGO like an unruly stepchild, kept maintained but never give the attention it deserves.
Meanwhile, Dota2 gets constant attention and love from Valve, with new skins, a plethora of additional content and direct tournament support, and, worst of all, a significantly larger prize pool for their largest tournament, The International.
Sorry Son, Dota2 is My Favorite Child
CSGO fans have been resentful at Dota’s large prize pool, compared to a CS Major, due mostly in part to how Valve handles funding for the event.
Both top-tier tournaments receive funding from Valve, with the CSGO Majors prize pool at $1 million while The International gets about $1.6 million for theirs.
While these don’t seem that different off the bat, Dota has the advantage that an in-game pass called The Compendium or Battle Pass adds additional prizing to The International, with 25% of pass and pass level sales going to the prize pool.
Ranging from $9.99 for the basic pass to $44.99 for a pass starting at level 100 (passes go up to level 2,000), with the option to level the pass up through playing or buying level-ups.
This pass includes hundreds of in-game boosts, skins, game modes and other content for players to enjoy, and has helped drive The International to its recent record-breaking prize pool of $34.3 million.
Meanwhile, CSGO has no such in-game pass to boost their tournament’s prize pool, leaving it set permanently at $1 million.
Of course, teams and players earn some additional income from sticker sales, but that is paltry compared to the extra $33 million The International adds to itself. Resentment has built up in the community at this lack of ability to boost the prize pool.
Fans have long called for their version of the battle pass to add to the Major, and many have argued that CSGO’s massive popularity throughout the year justifies such action: the game is the biggest in Valve’s library of titles. It receives the most players and viewership daily, often sitting in the top three on Twitch.
Even worse for CSGO fans, tournaments throughout the rest of the year are TO funded. Dota tournaments, even smaller ones, get funding from Valve to help them out throughout the year.
Valve has favoritism in which game it prefers to support in esports. While Dota certainly could use the help building itself up, it’s entirely unfair to leave their much larger and more thriving scene to its own devices.
Hopefully, Valve changes course in 2020 and begins adding ways to boost CSGO Majors prize pool, though only time will tell if we get such a change or Valve continues the same course.
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