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That's strange, The International is a very well known esport event, the biggest in it's hayday, it's certainly dropped off, but at one point there wasn't a way

That's strange, The International is a very well known esport event, the biggest in it's hayday, it's certainly dropped off, but at one point there wasn't a way to open Steam without seeing details about the International. While I agree with your premise, The International was heavily advertised on Steam products. Which is the biggest gaming store. Outside of that, there was minimal but anyone who watched esports saw TI stuff, it was always #1 on twitch during its week playoffs/tournament day.

IggleSniggle 3y ago
That's an interesting take. I've been playing on Steam since HL2, very regularly, and although I remember DOTA2 being heavily advertised, I don't think I ever saw an ad or promotion for The International. Unlike the other poster, however, I never actually installed DOTA2.
fragmede 3y ago
I played World of Warcraft I and II on an IPX network, but I stopped gaming around when Quake 2 died out in favor of CS. I have steam installed on my MacBook. I used Twitch a lot in 2020 and 2021; less so these days. I spend way too much time on HN; I'm not ill informed about other things. Probably saw an ad for it sometime in the past but I can't say I remembered its name or anything. The attention economy is real. There are huge swaths of culture that I'll hear about from friends of friends and it's astounding how much is out there and the conventions they have for it.
- taneq 3y ago
  I'm guessing that was muscle memory sneaking a 'World of' in there. ;)
amelius 3y ago
Another datapoint here: I didn't know about the event either.
- dubcanada 3y ago
  Perhaps I over estimate it's reach, I don't know. I just find it strange that people don't know much about a esports even that is the largest prize pool in the world, and has been going on for over a decade. It's not like the viewer numbers are low. But I will say it's like watching chess, some matches can take 1 hour or longer. It's certainly not for everyone and you need deep knowledge of the heroes and items to fully understand what is going on.
  - amelius 3y ago
    Reasonable points, but I don't think prize pool size has anything to do with it. I mean some lotteries have crazy prize money but many people in their right mind couldn't care less. I think that the age of the internet has brought us the effect that everybody can just mind their own thing. There is not just a few TV stations dictating what everyone should watch, like in the old days.
TheDong 3y ago
> The International was heavily advertised on Steam products. Which is the biggest gaming store. The biggest gaming store is almost certainly the Android Google Play Store's gaming section. It also wouldn't surprise me if the nintendo eShop is larger than the steam store, but at the very least I'm very confident in Google Play and iOS app stores being larger than steam for games. I think the majority of gamers have never played a PC game or watched esports. The parent post only said "I even played games", and you jumped to "watching esports" and "twitch". Watching esports is a tiny niche of gamers. Watching twitch also is.
- ufo 3y ago
  And to add to that, Dota e-sports is particularly insular among other e-sports: https://blog.twitch.tv/en/2015/02/04/visual-mapping-of-twitch-and-our-communities-cause-science-2f5ad212c3da/ https://blog.twitch.tv/en/2015/02/04/visual-mapping-of-twitc...
  - doikor 3y ago
    Dota players play/watch Dota. Similar thing also applies to country strike players. At least this is the experience in my circle of friends. Got a couple friends who have pretty much only played Dota (or CS) for the last 15+ years and have 0 interest in even trying any other game. There is also the crowd (including me) who play video games in general but these are very clearly different groups. So this is like saying "football fans are insular to football". I mean yeah they are football fans not "sports fans".
    - Retric 3y ago
      Most football fans I know watch other sports, often basketball. If for no other reason than the season is fairly short. Dora is insular in large part because it’s always available.
      - doikor 3y ago
        I think it also has a lot to do with it being much easier to actually play the sport/game. When the pros are not playing you can just play yourself. With football/etc playing the game in a proper competitive setup is quite the hassle. In Dota or CS you just get 4 of your friends and press a button and in 2 to 3 minutes you are playing.
ncphillips 3y ago
> very well known I think you’re illustrating their point. I’m no stranger to internet or video game culture but I’ve never heard of The International.
usrusr 3y ago
Never heard of it and I stare at the steam store frontpage more than anyone should. There's a thing called personalization and apparently your dataset triggers the "show The International content" and mine does not. The days of broadcast are gone and whatever you may think is shared media experience is most likely not.
fomine3 3y ago
I'm too used to ignore irrelevant ads so I've never noticed it on Steam.

IggleSniggle 3y ago

That's an interesting take. I've been playing on Steam since HL2, very regularly, and although I remember DOTA2 being heavily advertised, I don't think I ever saw an ad or promotion for The International. Unlike the other poster, however, I never actually installed DOTA2.

fragmede 3y ago

I played World of Warcraft I and II on an IPX network, but I stopped gaming around when Quake 2 died out in favor of CS. I have steam installed on my MacBook. I used Twitch a lot in 2020 and 2021; less so these days. I spend way too much time on HN; I'm not ill informed about other things. Probably saw an ad for it sometime in the past but I can't say I remembered its name or anything. The attention economy is real. There are huge swaths of culture that I'll hear about from friends of friends and it's astounding how much is out there and the conventions they have for it.

taneq 3y ago
I'm guessing that was muscle memory sneaking a 'World of' in there. ;)

amelius 3y ago

Another datapoint here: I didn't know about the event either.

dubcanada 3y ago
Perhaps I over estimate it's reach, I don't know. I just find it strange that people don't know much about a esports even that is the largest prize pool in the world, and has been going on for over a decade. It's not like the viewer numbers are low. But I will say it's like watching chess, some matches can take 1 hour or longer. It's certainly not for everyone and you need deep knowledge of the heroes and items to fully understand what is going on.
- amelius 3y ago
  Reasonable points, but I don't think prize pool size has anything to do with it. I mean some lotteries have crazy prize money but many people in their right mind couldn't care less. I think that the age of the internet has brought us the effect that everybody can just mind their own thing. There is not just a few TV stations dictating what everyone should watch, like in the old days.

TheDong 3y ago

> The International was heavily advertised on Steam products. Which is the biggest gaming store. The biggest gaming store is almost certainly the Android Google Play Store's gaming section. It also wouldn't surprise me if the nintendo eShop is larger than the steam store, but at the very least I'm very confident in Google Play and iOS app stores being larger than steam for games. I think the majority of gamers have never played a PC game or watched esports. The parent post only said "I even played games", and you jumped to "watching esports" and "twitch". Watching esports is a tiny niche of gamers. Watching twitch also is.

ufo 3y ago
And to add to that, Dota e-sports is particularly insular among other e-sports: https://blog.twitch.tv/en/2015/02/04/visual-mapping-of-twitch-and-our-communities-cause-science-2f5ad212c3da/ https://blog.twitch.tv/en/2015/02/04/visual-mapping-of-twitc...
- doikor 3y ago
  Dota players play/watch Dota. Similar thing also applies to country strike players. At least this is the experience in my circle of friends. Got a couple friends who have pretty much only played Dota (or CS) for the last 15+ years and have 0 interest in even trying any other game. There is also the crowd (including me) who play video games in general but these are very clearly different groups. So this is like saying "football fans are insular to football". I mean yeah they are football fans not "sports fans".
  - Retric 3y ago
    Most football fans I know watch other sports, often basketball. If for no other reason than the season is fairly short. Dora is insular in large part because it’s always available.
    - doikor 3y ago
      I think it also has a lot to do with it being much easier to actually play the sport/game. When the pros are not playing you can just play yourself. With football/etc playing the game in a proper competitive setup is quite the hassle. In Dota or CS you just get 4 of your friends and press a button and in 2 to 3 minutes you are playing.

ncphillips 3y ago

> very well known I think you’re illustrating their point. I’m no stranger to internet or video game culture but I’ve never heard of The International.

usrusr 3y ago

Never heard of it and I stare at the steam store frontpage more than anyone should. There's a thing called personalization and apparently your dataset triggers the "show The International content" and mine does not. The days of broadcast are gone and whatever you may think is shared media experience is most likely not.

fomine3 3y ago

I'm too used to ignore irrelevant ads so I've never noticed it on Steam.