- For the first time ever, Dota 2 has lost players for 5 consecutive months.
- Dota 2 has lost about 100 thousand players since May after it gained 100k in the months of Februrary, March and April.
- Roster disbandment, lack of support from Valve and postponement of TI10 can be attributed to the dip in player count.
Well, it looks like the Battle Pass wasn’t the saviour but marked the doomsday for Dota 2 player base. It looks like Dota 2 is declining quite rapidly over the last few months with the change in player count hitting lows we’ve not seen since 2012.
RELATED: Dota 2 hits the lowest peak player count since January 2014
For the first time in the history of Dota 2, the game has lost players for five consecutive months (May 2020 to September 2020).
Dota 2’s Gradual Decline In Player Count
Dota 2 had 3 prosperous months of February, March and April where the game witnessed a remarkable player gain of nearly 100K. This likely happened due to the influx of returning players, who came back to the game amidst the lockdowns imposed across the world during this time period.
The dip in player count started in May 2020 but aggravated just after the TI10 Battle Pass was announced on May 21. In the month following the release of Battle Pass, the average player count fell by a huge margin of 27k players while in May it was only 8k.
The player base continued to fall down in the months of July, August and September and with the current trends, a gain in the player count seems to be very unlikely in the month of October. Dota 2 has lost nearly 100 thousand players since May 2020. So, all the “prosperous” players gain of 100k that happened in Dota 2 during the onset of the global pandemic has now been levelled out.
This is certainly worrying for long-term fans of the game, considering the fact that the Dota 2 professional scene has also taken a jolt due to the ongoing health crisis. As a result, there have been numerous roster disbandments in the past 3 months which has caused Valve to come under fire with fans and players stating that they’re not doing enough to sustain the competitive scene.
Despite the dropping player base and the postponement of The International 10, the game is still performing well with respect to average esports viewership.
In the last four years, there has been a dip in the player base which occurs during the months of June to October with August being the sole exception (likely due to it being the TI month). Unfortunately, considering the fact that TI10 did not take place in August for the first time, there was a dip in the player base in August 2020 as well. So technically, this can be considered normal.
RELATED: Valve Gives An Update on The Status of TI10 and the DPC
Despite that, this is a very disheartening statistic for Dota 2 fans who are watching their favourite game lose players for 5 consecutive months. Hopefully, we can witness a change in the trend in the coming time and welcome a fresh season of renewal of Dota 2.
