Tickets for Dota 2's The International 2016 go on sale next week

Tickets for The International 2016, the world championship of Dota 2, will go on sale Thursday, April 7, Valve has announced. Tickets will range from $75 to $100.

The event returns to KeyArena in Seattle for a third consecutive year and will be held Monday, Aug. 8 to Saturday, Aug. 13. Tickets are being offered in two groupings, a midweek package at $75 that allows access to events held Aug. 8 to Aug. 11, which includes the opening ceremony and an all-star event. The Finals ticket, at $100, grants a seat for the last two days of the event.

Attendees will also collect unique in-game items for Dota 2 by attending. To be eligible, the attendance badge must be linked to a Steam account, and the bearer must be in the arena at the time of First Blood in each Dota 2 match, when the loot will be disbursed.

Those who only buy the midweek ticket option will still be able to watch the final rounds at a large outdoor viewing area on the arena grounds, Valve said.

Tickets go on sale Thursday at 1 p.m. ET/10 a.m. PT.

Qualifying rounds for The International 2016 will be held beginning June 21, with regional qualifiers following June 25. The International also should be offering the Compendium again. The Compendium is a digital companion and program for the tournament that features unlockable rewards, a leveling system, and challenges for players to complete. Sales of the Compendium help fund the prize pool at the International, and last year's pool topped $18 million, the largest in a single tournament in esports history.

Last year's winner, Evil Geniuses, prevailed over CDEC in four games in the best-of-five final.