The International Dota 2 Invitational will officially start on September 4th

The 2025 Dota 2 International Invitational (TI 2025) will be held in Hamburg, Germany from September 4th to 14th.

This year’s event will introduce a brand-new competition structure for the first time. The “Road to The International” and the main competition stage (The International proper) will be clearly distinguished, and will be combined with the Swiss round group stage and special elimination round mechanism to bring a brand-new viewing experience to global fans.

Of the 16 participating teams at TI 2025, 8 are directly invited teams, and the other 8 will be selected through regional qualifiers in June. The 8 teams that have obtained direct invitation qualifications are:

Team Liquid (TI2024 defending champion)

·Tundra Esports

·Team Falcons

·Gaimin Gladiators

·PARIVISION

·BetBoom Team

Team Spirit

Team Tidebound

The remaining eight teams will be determined through regional qualifiers held from June 4 to 17. The quota allocation is as follows:

Western Europe: 2 places

Southeast Asia: 2 places

Eastern Europe: 1 place

China: 1 place

North America: 1 place

South America: 1 place

In the Swiss stage, all participating teams will play five rounds of three-game two-win matches. A team must win four games to advance directly to the playoffs. If they lose four games, they will be eliminated.

After the group stage, three teams advance to the playoffs, while three teams are eliminated. The remaining 10 teams will enter the "special elimination round", where the higher seeds will play against the lower seeds in a life-and-death battle. The winner will advance and the loser will be eliminated, and finally the 8 advancing teams will be decided.

The eight teams that advance through the group stage and the knockout round will enter the TI main competition from September 11 to 14. Unlike previous years where some teams started from the loser group, the qualified teams of TI 2025 will all start from the winner group and start a fierce double-elimination tournament.

The playoffs will maintain the classic format, with all games played in a best-of-three format, and the finals in a best-of-five format. This TI is not only the first time the event has returned to Germany, but also symbolizes an important structural transformation in the history of Dota 2 e-sports.