Dota 2's International Championship will contain an $18,004,354 prize pool.

The tournament's main event begins today in Seattle at 6pm UK time. 16 teams are competing in it for the chance to make it to Saturday's final (which also kicks off at 6pm UK time).

The first place team will win $6,481,567, followed by second at $2,790,675 and third at $2,160,522. Here's the full prize breakdown.

To put this in comparison, last year's The International set a record with $10.9m.

The winner's pool is funded by sales of the Dota Compendium, an interactive digital tournament companion that costs £6.69. 25 per cent of its sales go towards the International's prize.

Furthermore, there are in-app purchases in the Compendium should players want to level theirs up to 1000 and snag a sweet 1/5th scale replica of the International's winner's trophy.

There are other rewards for Compendium users leveling up their app. For example, purchasing the The International 2015 Collector's Cache ($1.99) gives players a 1 in 250 chance of obtaining the Immortal Faceless Rex, a heavily sought after courier.