July 15, 2015 -- The International Dota 2 Championships (TI5) is still a few weeks off yet this year's community-funded prize pool has already shattered previous records with this year's purse currently over $16.5 mil, up from last year's record setting $10.9 mil.

In addition to the record setting prize purse, this year's International will mark the introduction of viewing parties in over 400 movie theaters across the US. Those interested in attending the viewing parties may find information and purchase tickets via www.FathomEvents.com

Meanwhile, new Secret Shop merchandise has been revealed (http://dota2.welovefine.com/). For the first time ever, TI5 ticket holders may now place preorders on Secret Shop items for pickup at The International. And online orders will be made available to the general public two weeks after TI5 concludes.

Marking the fifth year of the tournament, The International returns to The KeyArena from August 3 through August 8. Last year's tournament sold out in less than one hour, and was viewed online by over 20 million unique viewers as teams battled for over $10 mil in prizes.

Details regarding additional tournament broadcasts will be released in the coming weeks.

For more, please visit http://blog.dota2.com