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After a lengthy wait, the tickets will be available for purchase on May 24th at 12:00 pm CST. Valve is also allowing Battle Pass and Dota Plus owners get to buy tickets early.

Tickets to come in two-day bundles



After much speculation and even more waiting, Valve has finally released information about how to buy tickets for The International 2019.

Tickets go on sale on Friday, May 24th, at 12:00pm Chinese Standard Time (6am CEST/9pm PT). All tickets will be sold in two-day bundles; the weekday bundles—Tuesday & Wednesday or Thursday & Friday—are priced at ¥499 (~$70 USD/~65€), while the weekend bundles—Saturday & Sunday—are priced of ¥2099 (~$300 USD/~270€).

All ticket sales within China will be done through Dimai, while all others will be done through Universe.

Valve


Also, all Dota Plus and Battle Pass owners get a small boon:

To help show our appreciation for the community that supports Dota 2, Battle Pass owners and Dota Plus members with subscriptions active prior to the time of this announcement (6:00 AM on Tuesday, May 21st China Standard Time) will receive early access to purchase their tickets. Eligible users will find an access code in the Dota 2 Client.



Pricing too hefty for Asian fans?



Although the weekday tickets are cheaper than in 2018 (which were sold for $90), they only give the purchaser access to two days at a time. Last year, the extra $20 spent on a Midweek ticket granted the purchaser access to the first four days of the event. Furthermore, in Vancouver the final two days were priced at $190, while this year the price has increased by more than $100.

Dota 2 is gigantic in China, and the combination of the early bonus as well as the new pricing might be problematic for Asian Dota 2 fans who have a lower income. This is what Dota 2 analyst Ben 'Noxville' Steenhuisen argues. Many of those fans saved money to be able to attend The International this year, even if it meant not buying the Battle Pass.



Noxville suggests that while this new system could limit the problems of scalping, it might, at the same time, exclude people based on their income, as the chance of coming by affordably priced ticket are becoming increasingly low.


What does this mean for the future of live Dota?



There has been widespread frustration that some features in Dota 2 that many players deem as necessary (such as the Avoid Player function) are now hidden behind the Compendium's paywall. Valve has time and time again proven notoriously slow in producing anything except moneymaking content. Quality-of-life changes often take months to be implemented (consider that we are still using spell icons from the beta).




With The International becoming as big as it is, and with the prizepool for TI9 almost guaranteed to reach new, dizzying heights, we may very well be entering an era of Dota 2 where only those with money can enjoy tournaments live. Unwittingly, those who bought the Battle Pass or Dota Plus effectively paid Valve to cut in line.

Pay-2-Win in real life?

Head over to the official Dota 2 Blog for all the details on purchasing TI9 tickets.




The countdown begins.



Photo Credit - Valve

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