Hosted by Valve Corporation, the game's developer, the tournament began in June 2016 with the qualifier phase and ended after the main event at the KeyArena in Seattle in August.

[6] However, The International 2015 champion team Evil Geniuses did not receive a direct invite due to breaking Valve's rules on roster swapping prior to the tournament.

[7] They and Team Secret, who also broke the same rule, were forced to make their way through the open and main qualifiers, eventually finishing first in their respective regions, gaining an invite.

[8][9] Two teams from the Philippines, TnC Gaming and Execration, had issues securing travel visas to the United States, but were eventually able to get them one week before the event due to assistance from Filipino senator Bam Aquino.

[10] The event began with the wild card matches on August 2, with the EHOME and Escape Gaming advancing to the round robin group stage the following day.