Valve has announced the first teams involved in August's 2015 International through an unlocking page on their site. Teams will be announced every fifteen minutes; this page will be updated as they happen.

Tournament Format

Ten invited teams will fight against four teams determined through a qualifier in the Americas, Europe, Southeast Asia and China. Runners up from those qualifiers will fight in a one-day tournament before the main event to determine two final Wild Card entrants.

Each of the qualifiers will feature one team out of ten that is determined by an open registration tournament. FaceIt will run the NA, EU and Southeast Asia tournaments, while Perfect World will determine China's representative.

Dates for the qualifiers are as follows.

NA CN EU SEA May 25-28 May 25-28 May 29-June 1 May 29-June 1

Invited Teams:

Invite #1 is Vici Gaming. Vici are one of the strongest teams in China currently, with major wins in ESL New York and The Summit 2. They were the runners-up at the Dota 2 Asian Championships, losing 3-0 to Evil Geniuses. Recently they claimed victory at StarLadder Star Series Season 12, and were the third place team at i-League Season 2.

Invite #2 is Evil Geniuses. Evil Geniuses are considered the strongest team from North America. They are the Dota 2 Asian Championship winners, defeating Vici 3-0. Recently they were the runners up to the JoinDOTA MLG Pro League Season 1. They also have won the ASUS ROG DreamLeague Season 2, were runners up to Vici at ESL ONE New York, and won Star Ladder Star Series Season 10.

Invite #3 is Team Secret. Formed from many star players from high-profile teams, Team Secret have yet to win a LAN. They were undefeated during the Dota 2 Asian Championship group stages and just qualified for the Grand Finals of the Red Bull Battlegrounds with Invictus Gaming.

Invite #4 is Invictus Gaming. iG won The International in 2013 and have retained three members of that roster. They also recently acquired legendary carry BurNIng in an effort to bolster their chances. Invictus came in 7-8th at the Dota 2 Asian Championships, 5-6th at i-League Season 2 and were the runners up at Star Ladder Star Series Season 12, losing 3-1 to Vici.

Invite #5 is LGD-Gaming: One of the three powerhouse Chinese teams with Vici and iG, LGD is a star-studded roster that includes Zhang "xiao8" Ning, who was on the Newbee team that won last year's International. Recent results include winning i-League Season 2, a 9-12th at the Dota 2 Asia Championships and being the runners up to Vici at VPGame Pro League, losing 3-1.

Invite #6 is Cloud 9: Cloud9 have made some roster changes recently, but the team is helmed by experienced, yet volatile, players. Recent results include third at Star Ladder Star Series Season 12, 5-6th at Dota 2 Asia Championships and runner-up at The Summit 2 and ASUS ROG DreamLeague Season 2.

Invite #7 is Team Empire: Empire are a CIS team with the ability to take games off of teams they are expected to lose to. Recent results include defeating Evil Geniuses 2-1 to take joinDOTA MLG Pro League Season 1, coming second to iG at Major All Stars, and defeating Alliance 3-0 back in January to win JoinDOTA Masters XV.

Invite #8 is Virtus Pro: Virtus Pro is a CIS team that is formerly known as ASUS Polar; it is made up of veteran players who habitually make great showings within their region. Recent results include a runner-up finish at Star Ladder Star Series Season 11 to Team Empire and beating former The International champions Alliance 2-0 at the RoG Play It Cool Dota 2 Invitational.

Invite #9 is Newbee: Last year's champions suffered heavy losses to their roster in the off-season, but have been invited back to The International 2015. Recent results have been disappointing, with a 13-16th place finish at the Dota 2 Asia Championships (2-13 in groups). Newbee will be hungry to prove naysayers wrong.

Invite #10 is Team Malaysia: Helmed by Chai "Mushi" Yee Fung, Team Malaysia is no stranger to International success; as members of Team Orange, much of this roster made a Cinderella run to third place in 2013's tournament. Recent results include a 5-6th place finish at Star Ladder Star Series Season 12 and a 3rd place finish at Red Bull Battle Grounds. However, at Star Ladder they did knock Team Secret into the Loser's Bracket 2-1.

Qualifier Teams

Americas Qualifier May 25-28 ROOT Gaming Summer's Rift Not Today Team Leviathan Team Tinker Void Boys compLexity Gaming North American Rejects Wheel Whreck While Whistling

China Qualifier May 25 - 28 CDEC Gaming Old Boys Energy Pacemaker Newbee Youth Vici Gaming Potential EHOME HyperGloryTeam TongFu WanZhou Tongfu

Europe Qualifier May 29 - June 1 Vega Squadron Burden United Natus Vincere Power Rangers Ninjas in Pyjamas Alliance London Conspiracy Hellraisers 4 Anchors + Sea Captain

Southeast Asia Qualifier May 29 - June 1 5eva Mineski Can't Say Wips Rave TnC Gaming MVP.Phoenix Signature.Trust G-Guard MVP.Hot6

Matt Demers is a Supervising Editor at theScore eSports. You can follow him on Twitter.