Alongside The International Main Event we’re shipping a big update to Steam Broadcasting, making it the best way to watch the tournament at home.

First, we’ve integrated Steamworks support into broadcasting to allow us to tailor the viewing experience specifically to Dota 2: you’ll see markers for match starts, first bloods and team-fights populating the timeline as you watch live. We’ve also updated Steam Broadcasting with a new Live DVR feature, making rewind available as soon as you join the stream and allowing you to smoothly jump back and forth through the action. Combined with this custom Dota 2 Steamworks integration, you won’t miss a second of the action.

Secondly, we’ve brought Steam Broadcasting to Steam Chat to create The International Watch Parties. In the past, if you wanted to watch TI with a select group of folks, there wasn’t really an ideal way to do that. Now there is.

We recently updated Steam Chat to support what we like to do the most: gather a small group of people in our own private space to talk, chat and play games. We’ve now integrated Steam Broadcasting into chat so those parties can now watch TI together. You can create text and voice channels on the fly and there’s effectively no limit to how big (or how small) your group can be. It is the perfect way to watch TI with friends. And if things get a little too rowdy you can always create more custom chat channels for rival fans in your group.

Head over to Steam.TV now to stream The International with your party or watch with everyone in global chat.

This Dota 2 centered update to Steam Broadcasting currently includes some custom elements to support The International. After the tournament we plan to extend Watch Party support for all games that are broadcasting on Steam and expose a new broadcast Steamworks API to Steam partners.

The Trove Carafe for The International 2018 is now available, featuring all-new items for Huskar, Ogre Magi, Pangolier, Venomancer, Rubick, Disruptor, Silencer, and Storm Spirit — as well as the debut of a reworked model for the indomitable Huskar to celebrate his new Immortal.

Each treasure also offers the chance to receive a rare Windranger item, a very rare Golden version of the Storm Spirit item, or an extremely rare mount for Mirana.

Choose to support your favorite broadcast talent at this year’s event by purchasing autographed versions of the Trove Carafe. Just select the desired caster from the dropdown menu in the store to inscribe their autograph onto the contents.

Attendee Item Drops
This year will once again feature the chance for special item drops for audience members inside of Rogers Arena. At First Blood in each individual game, a limited number of exclusive Attendee Treasures will drop, each containing visually-unique versions of items selected from this year’s Immortals, and inscribed with a first-blood tracking gem. To be eligible, you must have a badge linked to a Steam account and be in the arena when First Blood occurs. We look forward to seeing you at The International.

The International Main Event
After four days of intense action, The International 2018 Group Stage has now concluded, resulting in the elimination of Invictus Gaming and paiN Gaming.

Team Liquid, Evil Geniuses, PSG.LGD, OG, VGJ.Storm, Virtus.pro, Team Secret and OpTic Gaming all advance to the Upper Bracket of the Main Event.

Fnatic, VGJ.Thunder, Mineski, Winstrike Team, Newbee, TNC Predator, Team Serenity and Vici Gaming must face the crucible of first-round best-of-one games in the Lower Bracket on Monday, August 20 at Rogers Arena.

The broadcast begins at 10:00am PDT. Check out The International website for more info on all the ways to watch.

The International Group Stage is just five days away, and as we await the crowning event of the Dota 2 competitive season, it’s time to check in on some of the final details for those watching the event.

Tournament News
As always, you can check out your in-game Compendium for a complete list of Casters and Talent for this year’s event. While you’re there, don’t forget to fill out your predictions for hero picks, team results, player performance, and tournament meta. Predictions lock before the start of Group Stage play.

Today we’ve also launched the official tournament website for The International 2018, your hub for keeping up with the day-to-day of tournament proceedings. As the Group Stage and Main Event progress, you’ll be able to see updated standings and new social media content posted each day from Vancouver.

• Group Stage: August 15th – August 18th, 2018 – Like last year, two best-of-two groups of nine teams. Top four teams in each group advance to Upper Bracket, five – eight advance to Lower Bracket, bottom in each group is eliminated.
• Main Event: August 20th – August 25th, 2018 – As before, 16 teams battle through a best-of-three double elimination playoff. Lower bracket first round is best-of-one, Grand Finals are best-of-five.

Media
Eighteen teams from around the world have earned a place in Vancouver for the final test of the Dota competitive season. Look back on their journeys to the tournament with The International Lowdown videos. Multiple videos are already available with more coming each day as we approach Group Stage. Once the tournament begins, check in on what’s happening both on stage and behind the scenes on our media page, which features all content from our Youtube Channel, Twitter feed, and Instagram.

Newcomer Stream
Help friends interested in learning more about Dota understand the tournament flow by sending them to the Newcomer Stream. They’ll be able to watch the main broadcast enhanced with contextual overlays that call out information helpful for understanding the intricate world of Dota during the biggest event of the season.

Pubstomps
There’s no better way to enjoy Dota than watching The International with friends. But not every fan can make the journey to Vancouver to witness the tournament in person. To help people around the world connect with each other for their own celebratory Dota events, we’ve once again partnered with Barcraft United to facilitate Pubstomp administration. Just visit the Barcraft landing page to find a Pubstomp in your area.

One week remains until the first battle horns will sound to kick off Group Stage play at The International, and final preparations are well underway.

As the eighteen teams complete their journeys into Vancouver, now is an opportune time to take a look back upon the vastly different roads each has traveled through the Dota Pro Circuit season to arrive at the tournament.

Today, with the help of one SirActionSlacks, we’ll recap all the DPC moments that determined the final standings for the eight direct invites in the new Dota Pro Circuit Rewind.

Starting tomorrow, SirActionSlacks will return each day leading up to the Group Stage to help you catch up on everything you need to know about all eighteen teams and their rosters in his week-long series, The International Lowdown.

Tune in daily August 9 – 14 at 10:00 AM PDT on our Youtube or Twitch channels for a new episode. The International Lowdown will feature three teams each day, and viewers on Twitch will also see select classic matches from the archives of The International.

Immortal Treasure III has arrived, featuring all-new items for Shadow Shaman, Dark Willow, Queen of Pain, Batrider, Zeus, and Naga Siren.

In addition to these items, each of these treasures you open also offers increasing odds to receive a very rare Golden version of the Queen of Pain item, or an ultra rare bundle for Witch Doctor. You might even unearth a rare haul of Battle Points, or the cosmically rare Emblem of the Crystal Echelon.

All Battle Pass owners can find an Immortal Treasure III ready to unbox in the Armory, and you can earn more treasures by increasing your Battle Level. Check out a preview of the new items and custom effects from today’s treasure over on the Battle Pass page.

This patch also includes an update to The International Compendium revealing this year’s roster of broadcast talents, and a list of today’s bug fixes can be found here.

Today’s update digs up the new Meepo Announcer Pack, available to all Battle Pass owners who pile up enough Battle Points to reach Level 75 and above. Featuring the voices of Meepo, Meepo, and Meepo, this pack replaces the default announcer and mega-kill exclamations with a trio of blue-collar pals ready to offer multiple perspectives on every game.

You can equip the announcers from the Global Items menu in the Heroes tab, and any players who already claimed the bundle from their rewards line can find the now-unlocked item waiting to be opened and equipped in the Armory.