How is the DotA 2 Player Count Looking in 2023?

Sometimes, a game unexpectedly breaks the mold and starts off something completely new. Sometimes, just a mod for a game does exactly that.

In DotA’s case, the story’s even crazier. Defense of the Ancients started off as a Warcraft III map, yet single-handedly created a completely new game genre.

Despite it being a direct sequel, DotA 2 is not as popular as its competition. Nevertheless, it is still doing pretty good. If you’ve ever wondered how high the DotA 2 player count is or more about the crazy mechanics and stats of the game, you’re in the right place. 

Join us as we take a look at some of the facts crucial to this game’s success and longevity.

Developers: Valve

Year of release: 2013

Platforms: Windows, Mac, Linux

Genre: Multiplayer Online Battle Arena (MOBA)

Incredible Facts About the DoTA 2 (Editor's Choice)

• DotA averages around two million players each month.
• The peak DotA 2 concurrent player count was reached in 2016.
• 12.51% of all the players are from the US.
• Chinese players have the biggest tournament prize winnings.
• The prize pool of the 2022 tournament The International 11 will be $45 million.
• The game’s playerbase saw a 15.26% increase in 2021.
• DotA 2 is the second most played game on Steam.

DotA 2 Info

Here’s some info about DotA 2 that is still worth paying attention to in 2022.

1. The initial DotA 2 release date was July 9, 2013.

After a two-year-long beta phase, DotA launched for PC in 2013. Its Mac and Linux versions appeared just nine days after the PC one.

The craziest part is that Valve hadn’t even finished work on the game at that point. Some of the heroes from the original game were missing, and the servers weren’t at their fullest potential yet.

Fortunately, that’s now a thing of the past. As the following DotA 2 facts are about to show, it’s like it never happened.

2. The DotA 2 revenue generated was estimated at $406 million at the end of 2017.

However, nobody knows what the exact number is. Valve has long stopped disclosing this kind of information. One thing is for sure—this is a lot of money for a free-to-play game. It was achieved only by microtransactions, which makes it even more impressive. 

The gameplay is not affected by these assets, as these are just hero skins and voice packs.

3. DotA 2 is the ninth most watched game on Twitch.

As you’re about to see, the DotA 2 player count is surprisingly high. Did you know that its streams also fare really well?

It’s the ninth most watched game, reaching peak viewership not that long ago. It had an astounding 1,714,668 concurrent viewers on October 17, 2021!

DotA 2 Players

As a sequel to one of the most popular games of all time, DotA 2 was set for success. Even more so, being created by a huge company with a serious background.

4. DotA 2 has around 2 million players per month.

It has even managed to surpass this mark for the past several months. On the rare occasion when was below, the number still came pretty close. 

So it’s safe to assume that there are around two million DotA 2 monthly players.

5. On average, this MOBA has over 500,000 active players.

If you would log in to play DotA 2, chances are you’d see between 500,000 and 800,000 players online. That’s at least how many active DotA 2 players there usually are.

For example, according to Steam Charts, there were 520,411 online players at the time of writing. The daily peak meanwhile was 754,731.

Pretty impressive for a game considered dead.

6. The peak number of concurrent players is 1,291,328.

DotA’s popularity peaked in 2016. It was then when it had the most concurrent DotA 2 players.

The peak concurrent player numbers were above one million during the entire year, but nothing could compare to March 2016 when 1,291,328 people were playing this game at the same time.

7. The DotA 2 playerbase saw a 15.26% increase in November 2021.

Games like DotA 2 were always known for their tournament scene. During huge tournaments, the player and viewer numbers tend to jump, which is exactly what happened here.

During the recent The International 10 tournament, the DotA 2 player count towards 2022 soared by an incredible 15.26%. That’s the first big jump since February 2016!

8. Artour “Arteezy” Babaev is the best DotA 2 player in 2022.

This Canadian pro player is part of the Evil Geniuses team, which were the 2015 The International champions. 

Arteezy gained notable popularity later on. Among the highlights has to be Armlet toggling against Vici Gaming at The International 2019. He and his team also topped the DotA Pro Circuit 2021 rankings.

9. 12.51% of all DotA 2 players are from the United States.

Chinese players have earned the most money in prize winnings, even though the US contributes to the DotA 2 2022 player count the most.

That’s probably because this doesn’t include just pro players but regular ones as well. The US are closely followed by Russians, making for 10.53% of all players.

Next up are Brazil with 5.09% and Germany with 4.44%. The fifth place currently goes to the Vietnamese DotA 2 population with 3.9%.

10. DotA 2 is the second most played game on Steam.

In terms of concurrent players, only Counter-Strike: Global Offensive did better on the famous game marketplace and platform.

However, League of Legends is still the most popular MOBA; it’s just not on the list because it’s not on Steam anymore.

Is DotA 2 dead, you may wonder again? Its recent player count jumps and current player numbers show us the exact opposite—it's very much alive. 

DotA 2 Tournament Statistics

MOBA games are very competitive. They are very skill-dependent with luck nearly never influencing a match’s outcome. That made for an awesome tournament gameplay.

11. The 2022 DotA 2 International tournament will have a prize pool of $45 million.

The eleventh installment of the biggest DotA 2 series of tournaments is set for Q3 2022. Held by Valve Corporation itself, it’s set to have the highest prize pool of all Internationals.

The International 2017 and 2018 had a prize pool of around $25 million. The 2019 edition bumped it up to $35 million. 

In 2020, Valve raised the prize pool of The International 10 to just a bit over $40 million.

It seems like this goes in preparation for the return of high DotA 2 player count in 2022. The same may go for viewers, as The International 11 will have the biggest prize pool yet.

12. With $65.3 million in prize pool earnings, the Chinese are the most prolific players.

DotA 2 is highly paid, no matter its popularity, which could only boost the DotA 2 player count.

As of February 2021, Chinese professional players were both the best paid and most numerous. Together, they won a staggering $65.3 million in prize money up to this point.

Behind them were Finnish players with a total prize pool earnings of $15.9 million.

Wrap Up

The DotA 2 player count, just like the game itself, is definitely living off its glory days. 

It’s not doing bad, it’s just that it could do better. Valve has left the game unattended for whatever reason for quite some time, but fear not. The International 11 will be around soon, and it’s going to be huge.