Perhaps a Sign Of Things To Come?Â
Valve’s Dota 2Â had a great 2019. The game had peaked at over 1 million different players in September and remained to average an impressive amount of activity throughout the year. However, as the new year has started, there has been a substantial drop off in players. The current player base for Dota 2 is hovering around 370,000 people. Not exactly anything to write home about. Dota 2 still has a very loyal following, but it would appear that there is a large part of the community that has turned to different games to pass the time.
Dota 2’s player numbers could always return to what they were in September 2019, but it is still somewhat shocking that there was that large of a drop-off, to begin with. Valve did add a handful of new characters and updates to the game. So this sudden disappearance of more than half of the players could be attributed to fans not agreeing with the direction that the game is taking.
A lower player count has made looking for and finding games much more difficult. Especially at higher levels. These inconveniences have only aggravated the players that have stuck around which is of course bad news for Valve. It is hard to successfully run a multiplayer game when there are not that many people playing.
Dota has been a game that has experienced a certain type of longevity that is rare among video games. Originally dropping in 2013, Dota 2 has managed to stay relevant for almost seven years. Something that a lot of multiplayer games only dream of achieving. Hopefully, some of the players have a change of heart and return to the game once again. For the sake of everyone else that has stuck around.