Dota 2 Analysis: Do People Play Dota in 2023?

When a thing grows as a part of the culture it tends to outlive its own estimated life and it gets formed into its best shape for people who like and care for it. That thing can be anything from a beverage to a sports ritual. The thing that grows on people becomes a part of their soul. Because people rarely forget about their culture and what these things represent. For some people, anything that reminds them about their childhood is a piece that they tend to keep around themselves or some people just want a souvenir to relive their memories.

Some things that grow on and on and eventually they become a part of everyday lifestyle. For example, facebook was supposed to be a student’s project or counter strike which was a mere mod for Half-Life 2 grew big and became one of the most watched esports around the globe.

The same definition or logic can be applied to Dota 2. This game was mod to legendary starcraft but now the game has one of the biggest audiences in the gaming world. Dota was first released back in 2003 almost 2 decades ago and Dota 2 was released in 2013 which also happens to be a decade ago. Now a decade is a long time for a video game. The shelf life of an online competitive game is around 3 to 4 years max 5 years, but that is not the case with Dota 2 because the game still has thousands and thousands playing the game at any given point.

In this blog, we will discuss how Dota survived 2 decades of continuous changes and how it is still one of the biggest games in the world. We will also get to know that “do people still play Dota 2?”

Before we start, a crucial factor of the demise of Dota 2 could be the new update, after the new update many people are leaving Dota 2 because it’s becoming unplayable. Behavior score updates really changed the whole game. Players are now not able to increase behavior score even if they choose a paid behavior score boosting service or they simply buy a new Dota account!

The Numbers

So the first thing that I need to explain is that the number of players that play the game daily is huge. If we compare Dota 2 to other MOBA games then Dota 2 will be superior by a mile. That is why I am not going to compare the game with any other game. Because Dota has its own league. Now what about the numbers that the game brings in? If we compare Dota 2 with any other game even with the same genre it wouldn’t make sense for the parameter of how successful and relevant Dota 2 is. But we can discuss numbers about Dota 2’s concurrent players and average players count. We can also get into its esports side and can measure how the game is performing as a sport or spectator’s attention to the game. All in all, numbers are the only thing that we can discuss, list, or count that can answer the question “Do people still play Dota in 2023?”

Player charts:

The game averages around 650k players every day logging and playing. The game is second among the most-played games on Steam. While the number goes higher whenever a new update or an event is occurring, that’s with all of the games.

E-sport charts:

As you know, dota 2 is one of the biggest esports in the world. This year’s international final viewers were around 1.4 million. Other than that dota events easily get hundreds of thousands of viewers. So the game is not lacking in its esports department.

Game relevance:

Determining any game’s relevance is difficult but luckily in the case of Dota showing its relevance is kind of possible and not that difficult because thus far we have talked about how many players play the game and how many people watch the game seriously. Now those numbers were pretty impressive for a decade-old title. But if we talk about more mainstream things the e-sports awards show mainly the nominees the game has in is also quite astonishing. The game was nominated for more than 7 awards. But sadly dota 2 this time hasn’t won anything.

Final Verdict:

After comparing more than enough data to cover the topic the conclusion of this blog is as simple as clear water. Dota is still one of the most popular online games there is. The game surely has lost its popularity over time but if we look at things from the perspective that this game is a decade old then we know why the game is in the state that Dota is currently in. All in all in 2023 dota 2’s charts were up to the sky and there are a lot of people who still play this game. Dota is not going anywhere in terms of its player base or its influence on other games and e-sports.