Is Dota 2 dying? Getting the answer based on statistics

The decades-long debate over "Is Dota 2 dying?" demands an answer. Dota 2 itself is barely a decade old, but its older sister, Defence of the Ancients (Dota), had a much older origin and history.

Despite the game's age, it's safe to say that Dota 2 has stood the test of time, but player hesitation happens all year round from season to season. This primarily happens when Icefrog releases a major update to the game that changes the gameplay mechanics, or when the highly anticipated The International event approaches. As for eSports, Dota 2 fans can appreciate the fact that most of Dota 2 pro players don't go away to other disciplines. After all, there is something so appealing and nostalgic about Dota 2 that keeps its fans coming back.

If you're a player who's been playing Dota 2 for more than a year, you've probably wondered "Is Dota 2 dying?". To be brief - no, absolutely not!

Valve revealed in early 2021 that it has been working to bring Dota 2 to the attention of the general public. In March of this year, Netflix with Valve released an animated series on DOTA: Dragon's Blood. Needless to say, this was exactly the attention the game needed to attract more fans.

In addition, Dota 2 developers have tried to make the game friendlier for newcomers. Among the many changes, the game has added mechanics such as proper creep stacking timer, wards and skills range. Such changes, however, ended up causing quite a bit of discussion among old-school players, who aren't too happy about Valve making the game easier.

In summer 2020, Valve released Aghanim's Labyrinth event. During this event, the number of players peaked at 721,000. A few months later, players waited for the legendary "Diretide'' event, which had already become a meme among older players. During this event, the peak number of players reached 724,000.

Of course, these figures are by no means worthy of that attention, as in 2016, Dota 2 reached a peak player count of 1,295,000. 

But nevertheless, the global COVID-19 pandemic halted the Dota Pro Circuit (DPC) in 2020, directly affecting betting in cybersport. The absence of major and international tournaments had a negative impact on the fan base, which continued to engage in the hobby.

Every year, Dota 2 players look forward to Valve releasing a Battle Pass. In 2020, Battle Pass revenues totaled $160 million, and 25% of that went towards a record $40,018,195 prize pool for The International 2021.

Despite much debate at Valve about how inefficiently the funds are being used to develop the Dota 2 eSports scene, you can rest assured that Dota 2 fans are still as dedicated as ever. Each successive year's prize pool surpasses the previous ones, and the amount itself is enough incentive for professional Dota 2 players to stick around.

As of November 2021, Dota 2 has 11 million unique players and an average daily active player count of 449,000. But these numbers are still excellent numbers for a 10 years game, compared to its competitors.

Dota 2 is indeed losing players, but not as much as compared to other MOBA games. With the recent rise in popularity of mobile games such as Genshin Impact, there may be a new trend in the gaming community to try mobile games. Also, the average age of Dota 2 players is quite high compared to other games. Dota 2 mostly retains veteran players, but the lack of interest from younger players is a major factor here. Over the years, Dota 2 needs to attract the younger generation to fill the churn of the audience.