The professional Dota 2 scene continues to excite fans, and things aren’t slowing down. Valve has just revealed the direct invitations for the game’s annual celebration – The International 2025. Following the eight invitations is information on the regional qualifiers.
It is clear that some teams have performed better than others throughout the 2025 competitive season. Eight teams have been selected to compete at The International 2025, and will book tickets to Hamburg, Germany.
Direct Invites:
It is pretty surprising that the Gaimin Gladiators were worthy of a direct invite, as the Western European squad hasn’t performed up to par compared to their recent years.
Out of the eight invites, six are teams from Western and Eastern Europe. Though we’re missing some regional variation, Valve’s decision makes total sense, as the European scene has been at the top of the esport for the longest time.
Invitations don’t make up the complete list. 16 teams will compete at The International, with the remaining slots up for grabs through regional qualifiers.
The International Dota 2 (Image via Valve)
Here is how the regions and slots are broken down:
Qualifier Dates: June 4 – 8
Qualifier Dates: June 4 – 8
Qualifier Dates: June 9 – 12
Qualifier Dates: June 9 – 12
Qualifier Dates: June 13 – June 17
Qualifier Dates: June 13 – June 17
Valve is following the same recipe as previous years, with each region except for SEA and WEU only having a singular slot. There are notably no MENA qualifiers, meaning teams like Nigma Galaxy must compete in WEU.
As usual, the Western European qualifiers will be a total bloodbath. Teams in the region have been shuffling rosters for this qualifier, and organizations like MOUZ even re-invested into the Dota scene just to be here. However, it is interesting that Team Secret didn’t receive an invitation, though they should be able to breeze through the Open Qualifiers.
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