The International 4: DOTA 2 winners Team Newbee crowned

Champions have been declared at The International 4 in Seattle, Wash., with a team of gaming wizards from China besting a rival squad from their homeland to claim more than $5 million.

Team Newbee was crowned the victor over their competitors with Vici Gaming in the video gamechampionship, known simply as TI4 by the initiated. The hugely popular four-day "eSports" event boasts a raptaudience of millions and a prize pool approaching $11 million US.

The $5-million grand prize and total prize pool of $10 million represented the richest purse yet for a video game tournament, but we're not talking some old-schoolarcade rivalry.

TI4is a competitive event so huge it's beginning to blurthe lines between onlinegaming and traditional sport.

• Watch the grand finalaction at The International 4: Dota 2 here

Defenseof the Ancients 2 orDota 2 as it's more commonly called is a multiple playerbattle arena game. While the game play isvirtual, the money involved was very real.

The runners up earned nearly $1.5 million.

More Internet traffic thanFacebook

The vast majority of thefans followed the action online including 300 people in Toronto who actually rented a movie theatre so they could watchtogether via live streaming siteTwitch.tv.

If you're not a gamer, or if you're over 30, you're probably not familiar with Twitch. It's athree-year-old network consistingofgamers, or streamers,and spectators logged on to watch them play.

During its peak hours the online broadcast sitecreates more Internet traffic thanFacebook, andindustry reports say Google is in talks to acquire Twitch for more than a billion dollars.

• Twitch for the uninitiated: Eli Glasner takes a video tour of the website here

For the past four days, devotedDota 2 fans have been absolutely buzzing aboutTI4on sites like Twitch.

When the tournament's victors are declared on Monday night,not only will they have seized a record-breakingmultimillion-dollar pot, but the winners and their fans will have helped prove that competitive gaming is a powerful new a forcein entertainment.

Be sure to tune into The National tonight for the full story withEli Glasner.