Is Dota 2 dying in 2022?

It is no secret that we come from two completely atypical seasons in all esports due to the Covid-19 pandemic. Neither fans nor players could leave their homes, let alone play tournaments.

This caused the audience in the events worldwide to increase and the interest and attachment to esports to be much greater worldwide.

But, with the return of face-to-face tournaments, we have seen an atypical 2022 for the Dota 2 competitive scene.

What makes us think that the audience in Dota 2 has declined?

We have a common denominator: the prize pool of an essential esports tournament in history, The International.

Unlike other years where the prize pool increased each season, in 2022, there was a noticeable decrease in these prizes, and many people have begun to wonder: is Dota 2 dying?

The answer is simple. No, Dota 2 is not dying! However, we have noticed that the number of players playing simultaneously in the last few weeks has grown significantly.

Dota 2 has an average of 466,883 players playing simultaneously, one of the best figures for this metric in the last five years.

The International 10 – Statistical comparison

At The International 10 in 2021, millions of fans worldwide watched this tournament. It is estimated that more than a third of the entire Dota 2 community tuned in to TI10.

The Grand Final of The International 10 peaked at 2.74 million people, and more than 50% of the viewers said present at Worlds 2022 (LoL). We must remember that the community of League of Legends players is 15 times larger than that of Dota 2.

Another point of comparison is Counter-Strike’s IEM Rio Major 2022. The community of Valve’s iconic shooter is twice as large as that of Dota 2, and, in this event, the average number of spectators in each match was 548,000, while The International 10 had 857,000.

Dota 2 generates a lot of emotions, which is why many professional players have expressed their conviction that Dota 2 is the best esports in the world.

In addition, The International is the esports event with the most cash prizes.

The International 11

We come to 2022, a post-pandemic year where Dota 2 fans must leave their homes to work, study, or go shopping. So naturally, they will no longer be sitting behind their computers practically all day long.

Talking about the statistics of The International 11, we can clarify that the numbers were significantly lower than that of The International 10.

The prize pool was close to $19 million; while this is extremely high, we must remember that TI10 had over $40 million.

Regarding viewership, TI11 averaged 563,000 viewers, almost 300,000 less than TI10. The peak viewership was seen in the Grand Final, which 1.75 million people watched.

So, what happens in 2022?

The decrease of this prize pool by more than 50% is simply due to the Dota 2 Battle Pass. This was poorly designed in every possible way, so players didn’t want to invest as much money as the previous year.

There was also the fact that TI11 was played in Singapore. Because of this country’s time difference from many countries worldwide, it is complicated to watch events there.

So the European audience could not watch at least half of the tournament; unless they wanted to wake up at 5 am.

Header: Valve