Dota 2 has seen its player count decline following a five-month positive trend.

Dota 2 Monthly Player Count Records Its Biggest Loss in Two Years

Rakshak Kathuria
Updated On: 
Highlights
Dota 2 has experienced a decline in the player count following a five-month positive trend.
The data tracking website, Steam Charts, showcased that Dota 2 lost nearly 34,000 players in Sept 2021, which is the biggest loss in player count the game has experienced since Sept 2019.
Player numbers are plummeting before the upcoming International 10 (TI10) which returns after a couple of years and will take place from 7th-17th Oct 2021.

Dota 2 has experienced a decline in the player count following a five-month positive trend. The data tracking website, Steam Charts, showcased that Dota 2 lost nearly 34,000 players in Sept 2021, which is the biggest loss the game has experienced in the player count since Sept 2019. Additionally, the loss of players in Sept 2021 resulted in the average monthly player count falling below 400,000 - only the second time this has occurred in the last 20 months. Player numbers are plummeting before the upcoming International 10 (TI10) which is making its return after a couple of years. TI10 will take place from 7th-17th Oct 2021.

Dota 2 loses nearly 34,000 players in Sept 2021

In Sept 2021, Dota 2 lost nearly 34,000 players, which represents a staggering 7.98% loss in the average player count. This fall comes after the game had a cumulative player gain of about 34,000 in the past five months. In essence, this means the game has been reset to the March 2021 levels. All the progress accrued from April, May, June, July, and August 2021 has diminished.

Moreover, March and Sept 2021 are the sole months since Jan 2020 where the average player count has fallen below 400,000.

In Sept 2021, we have seen little in terms of activity outside of the game. As far as the professional circuit is concerned, the last tournament to feature the best teams in the world was the Sapphire OGA Dota PIT Invitational, held from 6th to 10th Sept. Furthermore, even though TI10 is only a week away from kickoff at the time of writing this article, there have been only a few developments around it recently. A TI10 Compendium, that currently contains only Player Cards, was released with the tickets for the event a few days ago. However, more rewards surrounding the event are likely to be released soon.

Dota 2’s current patch, 7.30, was released in August 2021 which was followed by a couple of sub patches in September 2021. So far, the curent patch along with its sub patches were not impressive enough to showcase anything new. In light of how passive the month has been on the whole, it is likely part of the reason for the decline in player count.

In addition, Steam Charts’ data shows that players have been ebbing and flowing over the last couple of years. While we have seen months of positive numbers, we have also seen some discouraging red numbers.

Dota 2's average monthly player count in 2021

With the return of TI10 in Oct 2021, fans of Valve's flagship Multiplayer Online Battle Arena (MOBA) will be hoping for some sort of resurgence. The event is expected to generate much hype and attract many players.


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As a passionate Dota 2 fan for eight years, Rakshak has indulged himself completely in its esports circuit for the past two years as a professional. In addition to covering major news developments, he takes a keen interest in understanding team strengths and player personalities.

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