Valve published a guide to The International 2026 on August 11, ahead of a tournament that puts Shanghai at the centre of Dota 2 for two weeks. The post covers the format, the stream links, the Secret Shop and a set of city activations around the host venues.
Format and dates
Sixteen teams qualified for the group stage, which ran from Thursday, August 13 to Sunday, August 16 under a Swiss format. Teams played best-of-three series against opponents on the same record; a fourth series win earned an automatic place at The International, and a fourth loss meant elimination.
By the end of play on the Saturday, Valve said, three teams would have secured places and three would be out, with the remaining ten meeting in a special elimination round on the Sunday. Each of that day's five series sent one team home and the other through to the main event.
The main event opens on Thursday, August 20 at the SPD Bank Oriental Sports Center, a venue Valve says will hold more than ten thousand fans. Four days of double-elimination play lead to the Grand Finals on Sunday, August 23. Tickets are sold out.
Streams and the Secret Shop
Official coverage is carried in Chinese, English, Russian and Spanish, with four Twitch channels per language alongside Steam and YouTube feeds; the Spanish broadcast adds a Facebook stream. Valve also confirmed that community streams are welcome, provided they are based on DotaTV and the streamer's own content rather than on another broadcast.
The Secret Shop is trading online through partner stores for domestic Chinese customers and for buyers elsewhere. A physical Secret Shop operates inside the SPD Bank Oriental Sports Center from August 20 to 23, opening at 9:00am each day and closing after the first break of the final series, with orders available in person or for pick-up through the Perfect World app.
Away from the arena, Dota heroes appeared at landmarks across Shanghai from August 13 to 18, headlined by a giant Aegis of Champions, with check-in points set up in several commercial districts for fans collecting souvenirs. Valve said it would follow up with more detail on on-site events, badges and Crimson Witness drops closer to the main event.
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