Dota 2 News

DPC Winter Tour Fantasy Treasure

Today's update features the new Winter Lineage Fantasy Treasure, here to recognize strategic excellence in Fantasy play for the DPC 2021-2022 Winter Tour. Filled with a special selection of sets re-themed for the DPC season, players will receive one of these treasures for every 3 Fantasy Levels they've earned.

To cap off the season, Regional Finals will take place in Western Europe, Southeast Asia, & South America on February 11-13, and in China, Eastern Europe, and North America on February 18-20, offering one last chance to earn Fantasy Levels. In addition, we've boosted the rewards for the upcoming period to a whopping 12 Fantasy Levels for the top 10% of performers, 9 Fantasy Levels for the top 25%, and 6 Fantasy Levels for the top 50%. Prove your Fantasy prowess, and scoop up a handful of treasures.

The schedule for matches is now available on the Dota esports portal, and the deadline to lock in your lineups is fast approaching: Thursday, February 10th 4:00pm PST. Make sure to finalize your selections now.

Commonwealth Esports Championships running alongside this year's Commonwealth Games

"When will esports be part of the Olympics?" is a question often asked by people desperate for approval from cultural authorities or from their parents. But some sporting events are in turn eager to piggyback the youth appeal of esports, which is why the 2022 Commonwealth Games will be accompanied by a pilot esports competition. The organisers today announced the Commonwealth Esports Championships, running in August alongside the main event. And maybe it'll lead to more esports?

A song about Dota 2 has made its way - cheekily and breekily - into the Russian Spotify charts and risen all the way to the top spot. In fact, it's become so popular that's held that top spot for 14 consecutive weeks, racking up nearly one million streams. This seems to coincide with the release of the song via YouTube in late October.

The song dubbed 'astral step' is a reference to Dota 2 character Void Spirit's ultimate ability of the same name, which allows him to teleport to a location by tearing a rift in the astral plane, attacking enemies along the way. The artist's name - Shadowraze - is also a Dota 2 allusion, with 'Shadowraze' being Shadow Fiend's main method of attack.

The lyrics of the song, which have been translated by a Redditor and their accuracy confirmed by one of The Loadout's Russian-speaking sources, capture the in-game experience of playing Void Spirit with meme-y adroitness. "They have just some simple preset in their heads, I'm gonna show them the light in the end of the tunnel," reads one set of lyrics - a reference to the basic setups that newer Dota players will readily adopt unknowingly.

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Aghanim's Battle Level Bundle

To aid the community's relentless quest of restoring order to the multiverse, Aghanim the magnanimous would like to present his very own Battle Level Bundle — available this weekend only and packed with a hefty level boost and treasure rewards. Each bundle purchase contains 60 levels, 3 Immortal Treasures, 3 Continuum Collection Treasures, and 3 Ageless Heirloom Treasures. At $14.99 each, they offer 70% savings on the combined value of levels and treasures, and each Battle Pass owner is able to buy up to two bundles.

Aghanim's Battle Level Bundle is a great way to push you over the line on a host of Battle Pass rewards like the custom lane and siege creeps at level 94; Mirana Persona at level 135; custom towers at level 200; Hoodwink Prestige set at level 277; Drow Ranger Arcana at level 333, and even more. With the bundle only available for a limited time — sales end on Wednesday, February 9th — there's no better time to multiply your rewards from the multiverse.

Looking further ahead, Gameplay Patch 7.31 is slated to arrive on February 23, 2022, once the effects of Aghanim's adventures have been mitigated and the Battle Pass has come to an end.

Dota 2 has just hit its biggest peak player count in over a year and a half

Dota 2 has just seen the highest number of peak players in over a year and a half, with more than 780,000 concurrent players diving into Valve's MOBA game in January. That's according to Steam Charts (via Yahoo News), which records that the last time Dota 2 surpassed January's peak was way back in spring 2020.

January's exact total was 786,118 peak players, going by Steam Charts' stats. While concurrent players have stayed between the high 600 and mid-700 thousands over the past year or so, the last time January's total was beaten was in May 2020 with a hefty 793,135. While it's not totally clear why it's seen such a jump this month in particular, it's very likely the leap has been spurred on by the arrival of Dota: Dragon's Blood Book Two - the second season of the game's anime spin-off - on Netflix on January 18.

While that fell somewhat later into the month, it's likely this will have made a not-insignificant impact on Dota's peak player count, particularly given it looks like the debut of Book One also caused a similar rise. The first season arrived in late March, 2021, which then saw the peak players go from 648,875 that month to 705,534 in April - a jump of more than 56,000.