Hosted by Valve, the game's developer, the tournament began with the online qualifier phase in June 2017, and ended after the main event at the KeyArena in Seattle in August.

As with every International from 2013 onwards, the prize pool was crowdfunded by the Dota 2 community via its battle pass feature, with the total being one of the largest in esports history at nearly US$25 million.

Other relevant events took place during the tournament, including a cosplay competition and submitted short film contest with their own independent prize pools.

Dota 2 is a multiplayer online battle arena (MOBA) video game developed by Valve, which released in 2013.

[1][2] As with previous years of the tournament, a corresponding battle pass for Dota 2 was released in May 2017, allowing the prize pool to be crowdfunded by players of the game.

[13][14] Valve tournament rules allow for players to freely play for another organization without restrictions, as long as the rosters remain the same.

[15] As with previous years of the event, Seattle KCPQ reporter Kaci Aitchison reprised her role as co-host and interviewer.

[7] Instead, Counter-Strike: Global Offensive tournament host Alex "Machine" Richardson and StarCraft personality Sean "Day[9]" Plott replaced him.

[27][28] Other events took place during the tournament, including an all-star match, featuring players voted in by battle pass owners,[29] a fan cosplay competition, and a Dota 2 themed short film contest, with all of them having their own independent prize pools.

[33][34] The grand finals of the tournament between Team Liquid and Newbee were featured in an episode of Valve's Dota documentary series, True Sight.