Dota 2 is going through hard times – apart from a few bursts, its online has dropped to the level of 2014, even CS: GO has already surpassed it in the average number of users. And now the community has lost the main joy – The International. However, Dota 2 itself should not suffer. Moreover, the transfer of TI can only be a hand game.
The International is not so omnipotent
August, when The International usually takes place, is never the most popular month in Dota 2 in terms of player numbers. For example, in 2019, Dota 2 was played most of all in February and March (the heyday of the popularity of Dota Auto Chess), as well as in May, when the Battle Pass 2019 was released.
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Dota 2 only once in the past two years has been able to reach the mark of a million simultaneous users. This happened in March 2019, when Dota Auto Chess was popular.
In 2018, the highest average online was recorded in January, and the largest player growth occurred again in May with the release of the Battle Pass. The best peak online performance in Dota 2 is due to the release of major patches and new rating seasons.
The esports scene, of course, is important for Dota 2, but for users, the key factors are the game itself and the changes that developers are introducing. Peak online best results were recorded in February 2015 during the Chinese New Year event, as well as in February and March 2016, when the Winter Pass Pass was released. In each of these months, over 1.2 million people were simultaneously in Dota 2. August has never been able to reach this mark.
Diretide instead of The International
Since Valve does not need to organize The International, a company can redeploy to other tasks. Previously, TI represented a kind of extremely beneficial advertising campaign for developers, providing high profits, media interest and viewing on Twitch. Now this gap needs to be filled with other methods – this may force developers to actively act in the game itself.
Six months ago, one of Valve’s main competitors – Riot Games – announced several new projects at once. The same massive response from Gabe Newell, not counting Half-Life: Alyx for VR, did not follow. Valve is often blamed for the fact that the company practically does not promote Dota 2, unlike the same Riot, which develops the League of Legends ent, releases cinematics and even creates musical groups. Now Gabe will have time to do this.
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