The International 2026's arena stage runs from August 20 to 23 at the SPD Bank Oriental Sports Center in Shanghai, where the world's leading Dota 2 teams play for the Aegis of Champions. Valve set out the ticketing arrangements for that stage in an announcement on the game's Steam news channel, with sales opening on June 10 at 2 p.m. China Standard Time.
Valve offered two ticket options: single-day tickets for any day of the arena stage, or two-day bundles covering either Thursday and Friday or Saturday and Sunday. Prices vary by day and by seating section.
All seating this year is assigned. Valve said there are no general admission tickets or seats: a buyer chooses a seating region at checkout and is then allocated a specific reserved seat within it.
Two purchase paths
Sales were split between China and the rest of the world. Domestic Chinese sales ran through Damai or the Perfect World app and required a Chinese ID to complete a purchase. International sales opened half an hour later, at 2:30 p.m. China Standard Time on June 10, through Trip.com.
Valve reserved the first twenty minutes of domestic sales as a priority window for active Dota 2 players in China who had played at least ten games in the previous six months, and asked those players to verify their account status by the end of Wednesday, June 3. General domestic sales followed from 2:30 p.m. China Standard Time.
The rules attached to a ticket
- Tickets cannot be transferred, gifted or resold, and can only be used by the person named on them
- Trip.com requires an account and a valid passport for international purchases
- Each account is limited to a maximum of two tickets per day, so larger groups need multiple transactions
- Entry requires a valid photo ID matching the name on the ticket
Refunds follow the policy of whichever platform sold the ticket: Damai for domestic Chinese sales, Trip.com for international ones.
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