Dota 2 developer Valve has announced that The International 2025, Dota 2’s most prestigious event of the year, will debut a new format.
Taking place at the Barclays Arena in Hamburg, Germany, this year’s The International will introduce a five-round Swiss Stage, replacing the more traditional Group Stage format that previous iterations have used.
According to blog post shared on Dota 2’s official website, the changes were implemented to ensure ‘every single match had stakes’.
The Road to The International Introduces Swiss Stage
The Road to the Invitational will feature a five-round Swiss stage. Across the first three days, 16 teams play in best-of-three matches against teams with the same record. At the end of the stage, the three teams that have secured four wins will qualify for the playoffs. Meanwhile, teams that rack up four losses will be eliminated from the event.
The remaining 10 teams will then compete in an elimination round, where the top-performing teams play against the weakest. The five winners will advance, while the rest will be eliminated from the tournament.
In the blog post, Valve said: “Swiss formats come with unique challenges, and we’ve taken special care to make sure fans can know in advance when their favourite teams are playing, and that no team with a winning record ever has to play two series in a row.”
The Road to The Internationals will run from September 4th to 7th, 2025 and will feature both the Swiss bracket and elimination rounds.
Dota 2’s The International Ends in a Best-of-Five Grand Final
Due to a change in format, only half of the 16 teams will progress to Dota 2’s The International Playoff Stage, fewer than last year’s tournament. The playoffs will run from September 11th to 14th, 2025.
It will pit eight teams against one another in a double-elimination bracket, with the highest performing teams facing the lowest. All matches will be a best-of-three, except for the grand finals, which will be contested in a best-of-five series.
In the blog post, Valve said: “The original The International was a five-day event, hosted on the show floor of GamesCom in Cologne. Valve has been hosting The International for more than a decade, and every year we’ve learned new things — everything from booth design to sponsorships to specific details of tournament design.
“Every year, we try to capture the best parts of prior decisions while looking for opportunities to try some variations that might work even better.”
