RESPECT: “Dota 2 is slowly dying, at least in terms of competition”

I think things are in decent shape right now. But we’re close to things taking a turn for the worse. Take TI, for example—it’s lost the prize pool it used to have. Some organizations’ involvement has declined slightly. Professional players want too much money and too high salaries, so it’s becoming unprofitable to maintain teams.

— Jonas “SaberLight” Wołek, professional player

I think it’s all pretty complicated here because we’ve ended up in a situation where it’s hard to make money in Dota 2. As a result, for an organization, practically the only way to make money is to find a betting sponsor, and that’s not the best option. This means that something is wrong with the ecosystem. But I think it’s already too difficult to change anything now. We don’t have that many new players. Most of them come from the CIS region. But in other regions where there used to be a lot of new players—for example, in Southeast Asia, China, and even South America—I think the situation is gradually getting worse. I think the game itself is good, and that’s what keeps Dota 2 afloat. The fact that Valve updates the game and makes sure the gameplay stays fresh and interesting is the best thing we have right now. So, as long as they keep doing that, I think the player base will likely stay roughly the same, and interest in Dota will remain about the same. But it probably won’t grow much.

— Tal “Fly” Isaac, professional player

There aren’t that many new players in China. I think it’s kind of illegal to play video games there if you’re under 18, and, as far as I understand, you need support from your family and parents. So it’s hard to find new players, especially really good ones. It’s very difficult to sustain this business because you don’t have sponsors, and Dota 2 has been declining significantly over the past few years.

— Zhang “Dove” Tiange, host and commentator

The situation in China looks particularly bad right now. The TI is taking place in China, and yet not a single Chinese team made it to the playoffs. I think this could be a fatal blow to the region. And even before this, there was already a reluctance to invest. I think there was a lot of investment this year because TI was held in China, but none of these teams were able to deliver results. And I think this will just lead to all of them leaving now. So yeah, it’s a rough time for China right now, I’d say. We just have to accept it and move on.

— Jared “Nomad” Bajina, host

We have new talent now, but there isn’t as much as there used to be. Dota 2 is slowly dying, at least in terms of competition.

— Egor “RESPECT” Prokurat, professional player

I think things are still going well in other countries, but in the Philippines, I’d say, not so much anymore. Or in Southeast Asia as a whole. We’re lacking new faces, and the public matches aren’t really the same anymore. Nobody’s playing.

— Mark Polo Luis “Raven” Fausto, professional player

I think it might all still come down to chance. At some point, a new young star could emerge in one of these regions. Somewhere out there is a very young player who just happens to start playing Dota 2. People gradually start asking: “Who is that? Who’s this guy? He plays really well.” And then I don’t know if there’s anything that can be done at all. <...> That’s why I think the only thing that can help regions outside of Europe is more active promotion. And that’s practically never happening. Maybe someday that will change. Who knows. Maybe one day Valve will change its approach and decide to promote the game itself more actively. So who knows what The International will be like in a few years. Perhaps someday it will be held in one of these regions, which will truly experience a major upswing thanks to hosting such a large tournament in their own country or part of the world. And that will definitely encourage more people to return to the game.

— Owen “ODPixel” Davis, commentator

Right now, in my opinion, the situation is healthier. It’s just that there are far more tournaments being held now than there used to be. If you didn’t qualify for a Major, you’d have to sit out for two or three months, which is bad for both the organization and the players.

— Erin Jasper “Yopaj-” Ferrer, professional player