Death of the DPC and the Future of Dota 2 Esports

What has changed since the cancellation of the Dota Pro Circuit (DPC) last year, and what does the future hold for Dota 2 esports?

Dota 2 has often defied esports trends, for better or worse. In 2023, six years after introducing the DPC, Valve surprised the scene by shutting it down. According to Valve, the DPC brought more harm than good to the scene. Valve ended the DPC era in its own style—with a sudden blog post. Reactions were mixed, and the declining esports giant was set to change once again.

History and Tradition of Dota 2 Esports

Historically, Dota 2 has been known for its open competitive scene, huge prize pools, and, of course, The International. This groundbreaking, crowd-funded tournament broke prize pool records every year for ten years in a row. Many have tried similar funding methods for tournaments, but no one was as successful as Valve with Dota 2. As with all things, nothing grows forever. Dota 2 reached its peak in 2021 with The International 10, both in viewership and prize pool. This happened during the DPC. While overall tournament viewership wasn’t as high as before, there was still some hype and buzz around the game. The record-breaking prize pool of 40 million dollars reached mainstream media, and everyone wanted to see if OG could make it three times in a row. Team Spirit emerged back then and surprised everyone with one of the best underdog stories in esports history.

In theory, anyone could qualify for any Dota 2 tournament and win the lucrative prize pools. But in reality, many teams financially struggled while trying to get there. It was a big pie, but it was shared only among the best few. Countless teams grinded for months, competing in every open and closed qualifier, getting close or even reaching the main tournament, but then fell short, receiving practically nothing in terms of prize money while teams like OG, Virtus.pro, and others farmed the biggest tournaments. Sustainability was missing—something that is often lacking in esports in general.

DPC and Its Downfall

With the DPC, Valve tried to bring structure and sustainability. However, the introduction of the DPC in 2017 somewhat ruined the traditional values Dota 2 had always cherished. The circuit became “closed.” Tournaments followed the same structure and format. The prize pools were still high, but there was little point in competing in non-DPC competitions. The primary goal for organizations and players was to reach The International. The focus was on tournaments where you could earn DPC points and qualify for TI for a shot at riches and fame. Valve poured a lot of money into it, but it was still divided among only the few best teams. Innovation disappeared. One tournament followed another, mostly looking the same. Tournament organizers also had to cut costs due to several reasons. Broadcasts became worse, and content surrounding Dota 2 esports was nowhere to be found.

So, in 2023, Valve decided to shut the DPC down. Many feared it would kill the already “struggling” scene. But nothing like that happened. Dota 2 esports wasn’t revitalized, but it didn’t die either. With both DPC and non-DPC events, across most tier 1 tournaments, there were 24 million dollars up for grabs for the top teams, with most of it coming from the Riyadh Masters 2023—more than half, to be exact. There were 10 top-tier tournaments.

This year, there will be 12 tournaments with an overall prize pool between 15-20 million dollars (still waiting for the TI prize pool). The main difference is that Riyadh Masters 2024 had a 5 million dollar prize pool. Simple math suggests the money has stayed the same or is even better now, while the number of tournaments has increased. Viewership comparisons are not viable at the moment since we don’t have numbers for the upcoming The International. So, not much has changed at first glance.

My personal opinion is that Dota 2 is still struggling to remain at the top of the esports industry. This trend doesn’t necessarily relate to its esports ecosystem. Attracting new players remains a significant challenge for Dota 2 and has been since its early years. Netflix series, new mods, and new in-game bundles always help, but they are either rare or just not good enough.

The Future of Dota 2 Esports

It seems tournament organizers still need time to adapt to the new rules. The DPC lasted for six long years, and it’s not easy to go back to how things were before or to develop something new. PGL has already announced at least six 1 million dollar tournaments for 2025-2026. ESL FACEIT GROUP is pushing hard with the Esports World Cup. IESF World Championship now also includes a respectable six-figure prize pool, which may attract players who had trouble reaching the top-tier competitions. It seems like more of the same but with the potential to revitalize the scene and the ecosystem.

My only fear is that Dota 2 needs more in-game and around-the-game novelties and innovations to attract new players and make it more newbie-friendly. Without that, tournament organizers can only hope to retain the existing fan base, which has been losing interest for quite some time now.