Esports.gg Production: Revisiting DOTA2 Through Data Analysis

It has been 11 years since the public release of DOTA2, and in this article, we will explore the changes in DOTA2 based on data.

[Statistics of DOTA2 Player Data]

Firstly, let’s take a look at the number of players. The chart below illustrates the change in the number of DOTA2 players over time. The highest concurrent player count was 1,045,353 people in March 2019; after the release of the Heaven’s Wrath update, the peak concurrent player count in May 2024 was 951,239 people.

The overall trend shows that during major updates, large-scale events, or competitions, the peak number of players significantly increases. However, the long-term trend line also indicates a decline in the overall number of players.

Although the online player count is lower compared to 2016, the number of core players has remained relatively stable, and even showed an upward trend since 2022.

[Twitch Viewer Numbers]

DOTA2’s audience is not limited to players who own the client; those who only watch streams and matches—the so-called “cloud players”—are also a significant part. According to Twitch data, the number of DOTA2 viewers has maintained stability over the long term, and even experiences significant peaks during TI periods. The finals of TI10 between PSG.LGD and Team Spirit broke records with a peak of 1,719,828 concurrent viewers (just Twitch data, excluding other streaming platforms).

These figures indicate that the DOTA2 viewer base remains vibrant. Undoubtedly, from the perspective of live streaming viewers, DOTA2 still holds considerable influence.

[Competitions and Prizes]

When it comes to esports prize money, DOTA2’s International is an obstacle that no other competitive game can avoid. Before 2021, the prize pool for each year’s TI set new records. In addition, Valve canceled the DPC tournament in 2023, which instead promoted the emergence of various third-party tournaments. More tournament organizers entered the DOTA2 arena, such as BLAST, PGL, and CCT. The Riyadh Masters became a super event second only to TI.

While the absence of DPC may deprive some secondary teams of stable income, whether this change is good or bad remains to be seen over time.

[Game Update Frequency]

In recent years, the update speed of DOTA2 has slowed down, but at least one major update per year is guaranteed. For example, the recent introduction of innate abilities and soulstones has made game strategies more diverse.

From the table, we can see that 2018-2020 were the years when Valve updated most frequently, but starting from 2021, the number of updates began to decrease. But sometimes, we cannot simply look at the frequency of updates; their content is also a very important aspect. Last year’s grand plan and this year’s innate abilities + soulstones are still vivid memories, aren’t they?