DOTA 2: The International – Let Battle Commence

Valve’s MOBA and NVIDIA’s tech come together for the world’s greatest eSports tournament.

To some, the above heading and intro will be a source of great excitement. To others, all the acronyms flying around will seem bewildering, so let’s clear things up a bit for newcomers.

A MOBA, or Multiplayer Online Battle Arena, is a game genre in which several players can team up and take on another team of players in a virtual combat scenario. The aim for each team is to defend their own structure while trying to destroy their opponents’.

DOTA 2 is a MOBA from Valve Corporation. It’s set in a fantasy world, and the reason for its odd title is because it’s a sequel to the first game called Defense of the Ancients. It was originally a fan created mod for Blizzard’s real-time strategy game Warcraft III, but proved so popular Valve invested in the game and went on to develop the sequel.

What happened since is something of a phenomenon. Not only is the game’s fanbase enormous, but it has become the most recognized and hotly contested eSport on the planet, with The International the largest annual DOTA 2 tournament and indeed the most lucrative. The winners of this year’s tournament will take home a staggering $6.1 million prize purse.

Just as regular athletes require the best and most advanced equipment in order to perform well in their chosen sport, it’s equally true that the gaming hardware required by eSportsmen and women has to be cutting edge.

Unsurprisingly it’s NVIDIA who are the go-to guys when it comes to eSports, and that’s for two very good reasons.

First, it’s generally accepted that the GeForce GTX range of GPUs are best in class. The GeForce GTX 980Ti GPUs used for the tournament are the world’s fastest and most powerful, featuring fast, 4K, flawless visuals through anti-aliasing and super-resolution technologies.

Equally important, though, is NVIDIA’s G-SYNC display technology. Due to the historical legacy of screen technology running at 60HZ refresh rates, we have a situation where sometimes a game’s framerate doesn’t match up with that of the screen so you get tearing, which is essentially two frames getting scrambled up on screen at the same time. Additional methods of solving the tearing can lead to juddering and input lag. G-SYNC display technology mitigates almost all these problems. G-SYNC delivers fast and smooth gaming with virtually no tearing and minimal lag and stuttering. With these two technologies, NVIDIA created the most powerful and most stable gaming platform in the world. It’s the system of choice for pro gamers and tournament organizers alike.

As well as The International, NVIDIA also provides the tech for other top eSports tournaments like ESL One and Blizzcon.

DOTA 2: The International 2015 promises to be the most spectacular eSports event yet, so if you still don’t know what all the fuss is about, you can download the game for free on Steam ahead of the tournament. The International wildcard and group stages kicked off on July 26 (followed by the group stages), and the main event takes place in Seattle Center’s KeyArena from now until August 8.