Dota 2 was the game used for the first The International esports championship in 2011.
Valve introduced The International at Gamescom in Cologne, Germany, in August 2011. The event served as a major public unveiling of Dota 2, a multiplayer online battle arena game developed as the successor to the original Defense of the Ancients mod.
The inaugural tournament featured 16 invited teams and used a large prize fund for its time. Ukrainian team Natus Vincere won the championship. The event established The International as Dota 2’s premier annual competition, although later editions changed locations, formats, and prize-pool structures.