5 reasons Dota 2’s player count surged in 2025 (and why it will continue in 2026)

Dota 2’s player count has been wildly fluctuating since its peak in 2014-2015. Over the years, several factors have influenced the game’s popularity, with balance patches and content updates either bringing back old players or turning off a subset of active players. After Dota 2 hit its lowest player count in 2025, things started to pick up in the second half of the year.

The fresh surge of Dota 2 players in the latter half of 2025 can be attributed to a host of factors. Along with 2025 being a highly competitive year for Dota 2, showcasing some of the best games of all time, here are five other reasons why Dota 2’s player count increased, and why we predict it will continue to grow in 2026.

The biannual Dota 2 balance patches always bring a host of new and reworked content that players have looked forward to. The Wandering Waters update, Patch 7.38, introduced an expanded river system with new water pathways, while the Spring Forward update, Patch 7.39, polished a lot of facets and innates introduced earlier in the year.

These changes, along with the eventual introduction of Largo, brought a fresh surge of players back to the game to try out the new content, making Dota 2’s ranked pool even more competitive than it was.

If there’s one thing Dota players love, it’s free hats. The introduction of Quartero’s Curios, a new feature that rewarded players with free cosmetics for simply playing the game, sparked renewed interest in Dota 2, boosting the game’s active player count. While this was already an exciting prospect, Valve added more free cosmetics in the second half of 2025.

The Dota 2 x Monster Hunter collaboration in November 2025 saw sustained growth in Dota 2’s playerbase with the addition of even more free cosmetics, all themed around the Monster Hunter series. The event continues until February 2026, ensuring a steady count of players in the near future.

The International, the biggest tournament in esports history, has always been an annual celebration of Dota 2 for the last 15 years. Whenever TI season comes around, Dota 2 experiences a surge of players that stick around to see their favourite teams compete for the grand championship.

This year’s TI was one of the more hyped events in modern history, with old fan-favourite teams and players returning to clash with the new blood. This led to one of the most competitive TIs in recent years, with a compelling grand finals that left viewers on the edge of their seats. The active Dota 2 playerbase has only continued to grow since then.

Whenever TI season comes around, so does the Dota 2 Compendium. While the days of the TI Battle Pass are long gone, the Compendium makes its return right before TI season begins, bringing with it a surge of Dota 2 players. The game’s average player count in August 2025 was over 500,000 players, peaking in September 2025 at 953,869 active players.

While the paid Battle Pass system has been phased out since 2021, most of the Compendium rewards since then have been lackluster. 2025 featured a chance to win free Arcanas and special Tyrian Regalias unique to the Compendium, offering more incentive for players to return, and the player count to surge again.

After months of sustained growth, it became clear that the Dota 2 player surge in 2025 was not just a one-off spike but a broader recovery in player count. Although the first half of 2025 was rough in terms of active players, TI 2025 brought back renewed interest, and the content updates post-TI kept players engaged.

While the post-TI season is usually the slowest part of the competitive year, 2025 kept the tournaments going with BLAST Slam, PGL Wallachia, and DreamLeague. The momentum that started with TI 2025 carried on to the remainder of the tournaments in the latter half of the year, maintaining the playerbase through 2026.

With the momentum from a successful 2025, 2026 is shaping up to be an even better year for Dota 2’s popularity. Despite a slow start to 2025, the peak player count spiked to over 900,000 players towards the end of the year, between November and December, almost doubling the Dota 2 player count between May and June of the same year. 

If this trend continues, we could be looking at a player resurgence similar to that from 2016. Based on what we have seen so far, we believe the Dota 2 player count will continue to increase in 2026, as Valve has successfully maintained community engagement through crossover events and the distribution of free cosmetics.

With more balance patches on the horizon, the future is bright for Dota 2.