The International 2017 reached 5m peak concurrent viewers
The Dota 2 tournament's peak audience has more than doubled in three years
The International 2017 concluded on Saturday with a victory for for Team Liquid, and a new record set for concurrent viewers.
At its peak, the audience for Dota 2's biggest esports tournament topped 5 million concurrent viewers, according to a statement released by Valve. That amount includes people watching on television, desktop, VR and local "pubstomp" events.
The degree to which the audience for The International has grown in recent years is indicative of the rise of esports as a whole. In 2014, The International pulled in a peak of 2 million concurrent viewers, less than half of the peak at this year's tournament.
In terms of viewers, though, League of Legends is by far the biggest draw in esports. During the World Championships last year, Riot Games recorded a peak of 14.7 million concurrent viewers, from a total audience of 43 million unique viewers.
Where Dota 2 excels is in the amount of money on the line. This year's prize pool at The International exceeded $24 million, with the overall winner, Team Liquid, walking away with $10.8 million in prize money. By contrast, the amount paid out to teams at the LoL World Championships in 2016 was $6.7 million.