Dota 2 s Playerbase Is Dropping Fast Makes Matchmaking That Much Harder

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Dota 2 s Playerbase Is Dropping Fast Makes Matchmaking That Much Harder

Dota 2 has lost a significant number of players in recent months, leading some to question the game's longevity. via Valve Dota 2 Dota 2 is losing players, which will make finding games harder for the players who are left. As of today, ’s average concurrent player count is sitting at just under 384,000 players, with a peak player count of under 627,000. That’s the lowest it’s been since December of 2013, just over a year after the game first released on Steam. To be fair to Dota 2, that’s still an enormous number of players that have it sitting in third place on the , just behind PUBG. But it is a troubling sign for what was once the dominant force in Steam gaming. What's causing players to leave? That can be hard to pin down, but we have a few ideas. A new was implemented earlier last year that is handing out 2-decade bans for excessively toxic player behavior. That has likely caused more than a few forceful ejections from the Dota 2 community, given the legendary toxicity that online MOBAs endure. THEGAMER VIDEO OF THE DAY Another factor might be the Hong Kong protests. Besides causing a significant number of Hong Kong players to stop playing in order to take part in the protests, players were also banned from Dota 2 for typing in during . But the most likely reason is just that Dota 2 is old. The game first released in 2012, and since then it's gone on to become the biggest game in eSports history. The International 2019 had a total prize pool of over --more than any other eSports tournament--and Dota 2 players are the . via Valve Dota 2 However, the game has matured and older players are likely moving on to different, newer games. If new players don't make their way to Dota 2 to replace them, then overall player count decreases. This could lead to a downward spiral of players as fewer players make matchmaking more difficult. As matchmaking makes games less closely matched, then more players leave, repeating the cycle. Dota 2 is not yet at the point where this cycle has become irreversible, but it is a disturbing trend that Valve will certainly take note of in 2020. How they plan to fix it is an entirely open question. Source: ,