Skip to main content

Twitch sets records with eSports, and one team takes home over $1.4 million in prizes

twitch sets records with esports and one team takes home over 1 4 million in prizes dota
Image used with permission by copyright holder

It’s easy to fall into the trap of thinking that eSports are just a minor, niche attraction. You can’t walk in to a bar, strike up a conversation at random, and hope for a good chance of having a knowledgeable conversation with a stranger about eSports like you would a traditional sport. But if the numbers coming out of Twitch from over the weekend are an indication, give it time.

This weekend was packed with eSports competitions. The Pokemon World Championship was held, along with the European Gaming League’s 10th event, focusing on Call of Duty: Black Ops II, Halo 4, and FIFA. The biggest draws, however, were the StarCraft II World Championship Series Season 2 Regional Finals, and especially The International DotA 2 Championships.

Together the various events contributed to a record-breaking day for Twitch, the online streaming platform that plays host to most eSports competition. On Sunday alone, the site registered 4.5 million unique viewers, for a total of more than 550 million minutes watched, and an average of over two hours per viewer.

Of the various competitions, the DotA 2 Championship was the biggest pull. With a $1.4 million championship purse and over $2.8 million in total prizes on the line, the stakes for the DotA 2 competitors were insane. In the end, the winners were the five man Swedish group, Alliance, who managed an impressive come from behind victory over team Natus Vincere, aka Na’Vi.

Next up will be the various competitions coming out of Gamescom August 21-25, including the StarCraft II finals and more.

Ryan Fleming
Former Digital Trends Contributor
Ryan Fleming is the Gaming and Cinema Editor for Digital Trends. He joined the DT staff in 2009 after spending time covering…
PlayStation Plus’ most notable free April offerings come from Microsoft
Four players stand together in the 4v4 PvP mode of Minecraft Legends.

Sony outlined all the new offerings PlayStation Plus Essential subscribers can expect in April; surprisingly, Microsoft is the company behind two of this month's four offerings, Minecraft Legends, and the Overwatch 2 Mega Bundle.

On April 2, PS Plus can get those two things free of charge in addition to Immortals of Aveum and Skul: The Hero Slayer. Immortals of Aveum is a single-player shooter where players use magic instead of weapons. Although the thing it's most notable for is flopping upon its release, Immortals of Aveum is still a solid shooter that you might have missed out on, and you should give it a shot now that you can get it through PS Plus. Meanwhile, Skul: The Hero Slayer is a tough 2D platformer roguelike that should entertain fans of that genre for quite some time.

Read more
These are the 10 best gaming PCs I’d recommend to anyone
Graphics card in the CLX Hathor PC.

We review dozens of gaming PCs each year. In 2024, there are a ton of great options, but we've narrowed down a list of the 10 best gaming desktops that deserve your hard-earned money.

In 2024, we still recommend the Alienware Aurora R16 due to its fantastic design, solid performance, and decent value. However, there are several other options depending on your needs and budget. If you want a deeper look into how we evaluate gaming PCs, make sure to read our post on how we review desktops.

Read more
Mecha Break’s robot customization shakes up the battle royale formula
Mecha Break robot head with glowing blue eyes

Mecha Break isn't the kind of multiplayer game you can master right away.

You might equip a lance that you barely know how to use because it seemed like a good idea, and spend the rest of a round attempting to bash yourself into enemies to help your teammates. It incorporates action that's more similar to that of Armored Core 6: Fires of Rubicon than it is to the shooter-focused gameplay in Gundam Evolution, Bandai Namco's multiplayer mecha shooter that shut down last year. Overwatch does come to mind, but in a way where mechs are still the focus rather than the pilots within them.

Read more