Despite its free-to-play (F2P) model, DOTA 2 remains a profitable title for Valve. In 2017, DOTA 2 ranked among the leading MMO games based on revenue. At that time it generated 406 million U.S. dollars worldwide, which is not a bad result for an F2P game. Among MOBA games, DOTA 2 was estimated to hold a 14 percent share of the market’s revenue in the same year, second only to League of Legends.
Users and usage
The most recent announcements from Valve indicate that DOTA 2 has a little over 11 million monthly active users worldwide. While between January 2015 and June 2016 the game managed to increase its player base by roughly three million MAU, the user numbers decreased since then, mostly owing to the launch of PlayerUnknown’s Battlegrounds (PUBG) which has won over some of DOTA's fans. In general, it was found that DOTA 2 was one of the leading games among gamers and eSports viewers worldwide. The game was estimated to reach 5.6 percent of global gamers as of April 2017. Additionally, in a 2016 ranking of most played games on Steam – a games distribution platform run by Valve, DOTA 2 was among the leading titles in terms of user engagement, as it was calculated that the game averaged 455 thousand hourly players in 2018. It also managed to beat other titles such as Counter-Strike or Hitman 2 in terms of peak concurrent players that year. Last but not least, DOTA 2 ranked third on a list of top games on Twitch by number of hours viewed. In 2018, Twitch users watched 472 million hours of DOTA 2 content.
eSports presence
Defense of the Ancients 2 is one of the most popular eSports games in the world. Every year DOTA 2 tournaments attract hundreds of competitors and millions of viewers. In fact, The International (TI) – DOTA’s annual championship - ranks amidst the most watched eSports tournaments worldwide. TI 8, which took place in Canada in August 2018, attracted approximately 14.96 million peak concurrent viewers from all over the world. That same tournament had more than 730 thousand peak concurrent viewers on Twitch alone. The reason why DOTA 2 eSports events are highly popular among professional players is the prize pool offered by Valve. Unlike Riot Games (the publisher responsible for League of Legends tournaments), which focuses on providing players with a salary, Valve aims for raising the prize pools via direct or crowd-funding. DOTA’s 2018 championship’s prize pool reached 25.5 million U.S. dollars. Consequently, DOTA’s players rank as the highest earning eSports players worldwide.
Users and usage
The most recent announcements from Valve indicate that DOTA 2 has a little over 11 million monthly active users worldwide. While between January 2015 and June 2016 the game managed to increase its player base by roughly three million MAU, the user numbers decreased since then, mostly owing to the launch of PlayerUnknown’s Battlegrounds (PUBG) which has won over some of DOTA's fans. In general, it was found that DOTA 2 was one of the leading games among gamers and eSports viewers worldwide. The game was estimated to reach 5.6 percent of global gamers as of April 2017. Additionally, in a 2016 ranking of most played games on Steam – a games distribution platform run by Valve, DOTA 2 was among the leading titles in terms of user engagement, as it was calculated that the game averaged 455 thousand hourly players in 2018. It also managed to beat other titles such as Counter-Strike or Hitman 2 in terms of peak concurrent players that year. Last but not least, DOTA 2 ranked third on a list of top games on Twitch by number of hours viewed. In 2018, Twitch users watched 472 million hours of DOTA 2 content.
eSports presence
Defense of the Ancients 2 is one of the most popular eSports games in the world. Every year DOTA 2 tournaments attract hundreds of competitors and millions of viewers. In fact, The International (TI) – DOTA’s annual championship - ranks amidst the most watched eSports tournaments worldwide. TI 8, which took place in Canada in August 2018, attracted approximately 14.96 million peak concurrent viewers from all over the world. That same tournament had more than 730 thousand peak concurrent viewers on Twitch alone. The reason why DOTA 2 eSports events are highly popular among professional players is the prize pool offered by Valve. Unlike Riot Games (the publisher responsible for League of Legends tournaments), which focuses on providing players with a salary, Valve aims for raising the prize pools via direct or crowd-funding. DOTA’s 2018 championship’s prize pool reached 25.5 million U.S. dollars. Consequently, DOTA’s players rank as the highest earning eSports players worldwide.
