DOTA developer Valve officially announced the return of The International for TI 13 this year at the Royal Arena in Copenhagen, Denmark.

The International, touted as the grandest stage of all Esports, holds the record of having the highest prize pool in history with more than $40 million.

The upcoming TI 13 will also be the first time that the tournament will be back in Europe with a live audience since 2011 with 16 teams competing for the highly-coveted Aegis. Valve will also reintroduce direct invites for the upcoming tournament.

"The 16 participating teams will be a mix of open qualifiers, regional qualifiers, and direct invitations, similar to how invitations worked for the first few years of The International. The invited teams will be announced leading up to the event, and chosen based on team performance during the year," Valve revealed.