Dominance of The International in eSports Prize Pools

The International tournaments overwhelmingly dominate the top eSports prize pools, holding seven spots out of the top ten. Notably, The International 2021 leads with a staggering prize pool of 40.02 million USD, marking it as the highest in the dataset. In contrast, other eSports tournaments outside of The International series, such as the Fortnite World Cup Finals 2019 and Riyadh Masters 2023, collectively contribute only three positions to the top ten, emphasizing The International's unmatched scale in prize offerings.

Yearly Growth of The International's Prize Pool

The International showcases a trend of increasing prize pools over the years, with a noticeable jump from 24.69 million USD in 2017 to 40.02 million USD by 2021. However, a slight decline is observed in 2022, with a prize pool of 18.93 million USD, suggesting variability in fundraising efforts or tournament organization strategies post-2021. This fluctuation indicates the dynamic nature of eSports tournament prize pool sizes, reflecting the evolving landscape of competitive gaming funding and sponsorship.

Fortnite World Cup's Impactful Entry

The Fortnite World Cup Finals in 2019 made a significant entry into the eSports scene with its solo and duo events. The solo event boasts a prize pool of 15.29 million USD, and the duo event is close behind with 15.10 million USD, ranking them as the 8th and 10th largest prize pools, respectively, in the data provided. Their presence underscores the wide appeal and financial backing of Fortnite, highlighting the game's ability to compete in the high-stakes realm of eSports tournaments alongside longstanding giants like The International.

Exclusive Dominance of Dota 2 and Fortnite

The dataset reveals an exclusive dominance of two games: Dota 2, represented by The International series, and Fortnite, represented by its World Cup Finals in 2019. Dota 2 tournaments alone account for 70% of the top ten prize pools, while Fortnite events make up 20%. The inclusion of the Riyadh Masters 2023 as the only other game/tournament in the list with a prize pool of 15.12 million USD further highlights the concentrated nature of high-value prize pools within a select few highly competitive and popular eSports games.

Comparative Analysis of Solo vs. Duo Prize Pools in Fortnite

An interesting observation from the Fortnite World Cup Finals 2019 is the minimal difference in prize pools between the solo and duo events, with the solo event just slightly higher at 15.29 million USD compared to 15.10 million USD for the duo event. This near parity showcases Fortnite's unique approach to equally valuing individual and team-based competition, a contrast to the common eSports trend where team-based tournaments often feature larger prize pools than their solo counterparts.