The International will return to Shanghai seven years since the last time the tournament was hosted in China.
The International (TI) 2026, next year's edition of Dota 2's annual world championship tournament, will be hosted in Shanghai, China in August 2026. Dota 2 developer Valve announced the venue for next year's event ahead of the grand finals of TI 2025 between Western Europe's 
Team Falcons and China's 
Xtreme Gaming.
This will mark the second time that Shanghai will host TI after TI 2019, where Western Europe's 
OG became the first-ever two-time TI champions after defeating 
Team Liquid in four games to claim the grand prize of US$15.6 million out of the US$34.3 million prize pool.
It's fitting that TI will return to Shanghai next year given the reinvigoration of the Chinese Dota 2 scene in TI 2025. Xtreme Gaming notably topped TI 2025's Group Stage by winning all four of their matches and advancing directly to the Playoffs. The event's second Chinese team, 
Team Tidebound, also earning a direct berth to the main stage after finishing the Group Stage with a 4-1 record.
While Tidebound would later get knocked out in 7th-8th place, Xtreme managed to reach the grand finals and have the chance to reclaim the Aegis of Champions for China after almost a decade since the last time a team from the region won the title.
The legendary 
Wings Gaming were the last Chinese team to win TI back in 2016, joining past Chinese champions 
Invictus Gaming (2012) and 
Newbee (2014).
