Dzmitry "Fishman" Palishchuk, a Belarusian Dota 2 player for Entity, has recently sparked a controversy in the Dota 2 community. On 27th November, he posted unconfirmed information on his Telegram channel about the possible prize pool for the next Riyadh Masters tournament.

Fishman made a suggestion in his post that the next Riyadh Masters may have an extraordinary $45 million prize pool. If this is true, Riyadh Masters 2024 will exceed the prize pool of The International (TI). Remarkably, Riyadh Masters 2023 had already surpassed The International 2023 in terms of prize money.

The International 2023 had a prize pool of $3,380,455 USD , which was considered as one of the highest prize pools in esports in history. On the other hand, the prize pool for the Riyadh Masters 2023 was an incredible $15,000,000 USD.

The huge prize pool for Riyadh Masters could have important consequences. In the highly competitive Dota 2 scene, it would first establish the tournament as a leader. For getting a share of this huge prize money the teams would surely put in their best fights, elevating the competition on the global stage.

The International undoubtedly has a special charm of its own, but with the rumoured humongous prize pool, Riyadh Masters may become the next major event on the esports calendar. However, it is important to note that the information shared by Fishman is unverified, so there may be speculation. However, the Dota 2 community finds the idea of $45 Million USD Prize Pool extremely tempting.

Sportstar reported on 23rd October 2023 that Saudi Arabia has announced plans to host an Esports world cup from next year. It will feature the most popular games in the world and the largest prize pool in the history of esports. Saudi Arabia's Crown Prince and Prime Minister, Prince Mohammed bin Salman, reaffirmed the nation's goal of emerging as the leading worldwide center for esports and gaming.

Riyadh Masters is scheduled to take place during the Esports World Cup, which was announced in October and will take place in Saudi Arabia. The idea of a $45 million prize pool is not wholly unrealistic. This may support Saudi Arabia’s dream of growing the esports industry which could lead to the creation of a huge number of jobs in the region.