Team Falcons is the most successful Dota 2 Organization in 2024

It's not easy to measure success, but one good way of doing so is using money. And in  that aspect, Team Falcons was the most successful team in Dota in 2024. The organization raked in approximately USD $3,380,000, courtesy of winning seven tournaments.

Six other teams also earned more than a million dollars, but the drop off was steep after that, highlighting a continuing issue with the game.

Team Falcons proves winning the International isn't everything

Credit: Falcons Twitter

For over a decade, the Dota 2 esport scene has centered around The International (TI). Teams would train all year for a chance to win the biggest tournament among all Esports. TI was Valve's main marketing tool for Dota 2, and it ballooned to an over 40 Million dollar event in 2021.

Since then, Valve has removed the Dota 2 Battle Pass and this resulted in the TI prize pool shrinking significantly. This year's prize pool was under USD $2,800,000. That's nearly a million dollars less than Team Secret earned for getting third place in 2021. Team Liquid, who won TI this year, earned less than Vici Gaming and Virtus.Pro did for placing top six in 2021.

Team Falcons' success proves that you can still top the charts even if you don't win TI or Riyadh Masters. This shift from one or two massive tournaments to over 10 million dollar events a year has provided teams with more chances to make a living in the game.

Dota 2 remains an extremely top-heavy esport

Team Spirit with their second TI rings. (Credits: Valve)

While I am glad to see a shift away from The International and more third party involvement, another problem persists in the Dota 2 competitive scene. Too often, the prize pool distribution is very top heavy, with first place taking a third to half of the money.

The International awards 45% of the prize money to first place, Fissure gives out 40%. ESL is slightly better at this, but it's still 30% going to first place for Riyadh Masters and their other tournaments.

It's even more bleak when you look at how much of the prize money the top three teams take at events. At The International, the podium teams take 68% of the prize money. ESL again does it best, but it's still 58% of the money going to top three. Fissure is the most egregious, with 70% of the money going to the first three.

It is deserved for the best teams to make the most money, that's only common sense. However, the money distribution can (and did) kill new organizations that have talented teams but fail to make it to the final day of a tournament.

Of course this is still a step in the right direction. At least all teams who attended a Dota 2 LAN this year made money. Back in 2023, you only earned a living at Majors if you made it to top eight. Dark days indeed.

Dota 2 is progressing and the direction the scene is heading towards is better. There are more tournaments and more chances to people to succeed than ever. But we can do better, and a good step towards that would be skimming a little bit off the top and giving growing teams a lifeline to stay in the competition.

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Featured Image Source: Fissure