How it unfolded
The International 10 was held in Bucharest after a year's delay caused by COVID-19, with a crowdfunded prize pool that reached $40,018,195. Roughly $18.2 million was allocated to the winner alone, the largest single-event payout in esports history. Finalist Team Spirit was a near-unknown Eastern European team that had fought through the qualifiers, while its opponent, PSG.LGD, was once again the Chinese powerhouse favored to win. Spirit traded the first two games, then repeatedly read the opponent's lane setup to funnel farming space to carry Yatoro, while offlaner Collapse's Magnus opened one decisive teamfight after another. Spirit won the deciding fifth game 3-2, and a roster with an average age in the early twenties split more than $18 million from a single event.
Why it still matters
This match recorded the absolute ceiling for esports prize money, a mark that has not been broken since. The fact that a single tournament win could pay one team $18 million forced a recalculation of what a playing career could be worth economically, and it demonstrated, more dramatically than anything before it, the power of a crowdfunding model that recycles in-game purchases back into prize money.