Dota 2 is booming again, and all it took was a few shiny hats.
Valve’s Dota 2 has recorded its highest peak player count since June 2016, reaching 1,097,854 concurrent players on Sunday, 25 October.
This marks another week of surging interest in the flagship MOBA, which has consistently attracted over a million concurrent players across three consecutive weekends.
The renewed interest follows the release of high-rarity cosmetics in the Trove of Terror treasure, including a brand-new Tidehunter Arcana, which launched on 7 October.
Dota 2 player count peaks again after ten years
For an ‘ancient’ game, Dota 2 still looks alive and kicking. The 2013 title enjoyed some of its most popular years in 2016 and 2017, consistently recording peak player counts of over a million throughout this period.
In March 2016, Dota 2 set its all-time peak player record at 1,295,114 concurrent players. This came amid enormous hype surrounding the game, with the notorious Shanghai Major having just wrapped up and the Winter Battle Pass deadline looming at the end of the month.
Since then, however, the player base has gradually declined, falling from the million-player mark to consistent peaks of 600K to 900K players. There have been occasional spikes, usually coinciding with major events or the release of new cosmetics.
In March 2019, Dota 2 crossed the million-player mark again following the release of the new hero Mars. In October 2022, the game reached the milestone once more when Valve introduced the ‘Swag Bag’, which included a free Arcana and other rewards.
This time around, however, the new Tidehunter Arcana and Immortal-stacked treasure appears to have helped propel Dota 2 further. The game consistently attracted over a million concurrent players across three consecutive weekends since the treasure launched: with 1.03 million peak players on 11 October, 1.009 million peak players on 18 October, and 1.1 million peak players on 25 October. The latest figure soared over numbers last seen in June 2016, marking a new peak after a decade.
Are there bot accounts in Dota 2?
The latest player peak has raised an important question within the community, with some wondering whether bot accounts could be artificially inflating the numbers. The scepticism is understandable.
Aside from the Trove of Terror treasure, Valve has not exactly showered Dota 2 with a bevy of attractive updates. In fact, the game has gone more than 210 days without a new gameplay patch, making the current Patch 7.41 cycle one of the longest in its history.
Over on Reddit, some players have complained about the abundance of bots, particularly in Unranked matches. This could disproportionately affect newer players, who must meet certain playtime requirements before unlocking Ranked matches.
Others have claimed that bots are more prevalent in the Dota 2 Arcade, where developers allegedly use bot accounts to push their games towards the top of the ‘Most Played’ list and attract genuine players.
Sentiments remain mixed, however, with others defending the legitimacy of the recent player surge. Some players have noticed shorter queue times, while others claim that match quality is ‘getting worse’. They attribute these changes to an influx of newer or returning players, rather than bot accounts.
