The International is fast approaching: all sixteen teams are already preparing to head to China, where the biggest event of the year awaits them. Valve has released an update, along with which the full list of casters for the official broadcasts was revealed. Once again, the Ukrainian studio Maincast is included on the list.
This is the second year in a row that Maincast has its own support pack. Support packs created in collaboration with teams and casters were introduced specifically for the Dota 2 tournament. In each pack, gamers will find unique content—stickers, screensavers, voice lines, and other elements prepared by the participants themselves.
Half of all sales from the bundles will automatically go directly to the creators—the team or streamer will receive their share. At the same time, Valve will allocate an additional 30% of sales to The International’s prize pool, underscoring its commitment to making the tournament even bigger.
Last year, the company decided to recognize these initiatives for the first time—support packages for large unofficial streams were introduced in the game. The list included the language communities with the largest audiences: Brazilian Portuguese, Filipino, and Ukrainian.
This year, the Ukrainian Maincast support package was divided into three tiers.
The Bronze tier costs 52 hryvnia and features the phrase “O-o-o, awesome! That’s powerful!”
The Silver tier, priced at 247 hryvnias, includes the phrase “I shake your hand. I give you a hug,” as well as a splash screen featuring Ukrainian symbols and dishes: borscht, salo, stuffed cabbage rolls, varenyky, Kyiv cake, Kherson watermelons, Taras Hryhorovych, and other elements.
The Gold tier costs 477 hryvnias. It includes the phrase “Gentlemen, we’re on the verge of a grand comeback,” as well as another exclusive splash screen.
The main tournament of The International 2026 will take place from August 13 to 23, 2026, in Shanghai, China. The main event at the arena, featuring the world’s top teams, will take place from August 20 to 23.
The initial prize pool for this year’s The International is $1,600,000. This amount will be supplemented by a percentage of sales from compendiums, team packs, and talents, so the final prize pool amount will be announced at a later date.