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Alongside the Dota 2 International tournament, Valve will launch The International Interactive Compendium, a virtual book designed to keep players caught up on tournament events, the company has announced.
The Compendium is currently on sale in the Dota Store at $10 each. Those with tickets to attend The International tournament will receive a Compendium as part of their admission.
The Dota team wrote on the game's official blog that the Compendium will also allow players to sync up with other viewers to play rounds of Dota 2, as well as give buyers eligibility for special virtual item drops through the duration of the tournament.
Compendium owners will also be able to vote on community polls relating to the tournament, including which tournament participants should receive certain awards. After The International's conclusion, players can read each others' compendiums to see their tournament predictions.
Valve will add 25 percent of the revenue made from the Compendium to the tournament's prize pool, compiling on the starting amount of $1.6 million.
"Each year we spend some of the planning time for The International trying to figure out ways to improve the connection between fans and the players in the tournament," reads the announcement post, explaining the reasoning behind the Compendium's release. "We know that the majority of our viewers will be watching the tournament unfold over the internet, so we'd like to make it easier for an online fan to dig deeper into the event, the teams, and the players.
"In addition to wanting more detail, we know fans also love to compete with each other at predicting tournament results. This year we're taking our first shot at addressing all of the these concepts, with an additional step that we hope will result in the tournament itself getting bigger and better as a direct result of fan enthusiasm."
The International tournament will take place on Aug. 7. The West Qualifiers will take place May 13 through 19, with East Qualifiers occurring immediately after May 20 through 26.
