Since its inception, Dota 2 has been revered as one of the greatest video games ever developed. While the game has its fair share of ups and downs, it still manages to break new records every once in a while. Now, it has reached another milestone after it got listed as one of the “Platinum” Best Sellers in Steam of 2022.
The new milestone was achieved after Valve’s popular title saw a dramatic increase in revenue and player base count. In addition, right before The International 2022 (better known as TI 11), the game was able to reach its highest player count peak in almost four years. This also made a way for it to be part of Steam’s “Most Played” video games at the end of the year.
It holds true that Dota 2 experienced a decline in prize pool earnings in its latest iteration of an esports event called The International. Still, 2022 turned out to be a great year for the game. Otherwise, it would have not been included in the list of 2022’s “Platinum” Best Sellers in Steam.
Most believe that the reason behind the accolade is the significant increase in the player base as well as the introduction of the annual The International Battle Pass. The latter basically gave players the opportunity to acquire exclusive in-game cosmetics, such as arcanas, personas, and emoticons, just to name a few. Although some players did not really opt into buying a battle pass, it still turned out to be a success.
Another incentive that Valve introduced is the so-called The International Swag Bag, which helped in bringing new Dota 2 players. Its arrival even increased the number of returning players. The free giveaway rewarded players an arcana of their choice, a month's subscription to Dota Plus, and a level one battle pass (players who already owned a battle pass were given 24 BP levels).
Looks like every year, Valve finds a way to bring the hype back to Dota 2 and in recent years, the studio has been really, really good at it. Despite the game being old, it always offers something refreshing to its players.
