Dota 2 Esports in 2024: A Year of Transformation
2024 marked a significant shift in the competitive Dota 2 landscape, as Valve abandoned its long-running Dota Pro Circuit (DPC) format in favor of a more traditional approach. While The International’s viewership continued its gradual decline, the broader Dota 2 ecosystem showed remarkable resilience and growth, maintaining its position as the highest-paying esport.
Tournament Evolution
The departure from the DPC system meant teams no longer needed to accumulate points through regional leagues to secure spots at The International. Instead, the selection process returned to direct invitations based on performance at third-party events. This change created new opportunities in the tournament calendar, promptly filled by organizers like PGL, FISSURE, and BLAST.
The competitive scene saw substantial growth in high-stakes tournaments, with the number of events offering $1,000,000+ prize pools more than doubling from six in 2023 to thirteen in 2024. Even more encouraging, at least fifteen such tournaments are already scheduled for 2025.
Notable Achievements
Team Falcons emerged as the standout performers of 2024, claiming victory in seven tournaments and accumulating over $3.37 million in prize money—the highest earnings among all Dota 2 teams for the year.
Major Events Overview
The International 2024
Despite recording the lowest prize pool since 2013’s Compendium introduction and continuing a three-year trend of declining average viewership, The International remained the year’s premier event. The tournament generated over 55 million hours watched, though this represented a 15.6% decrease from the previous year. However, the final showdown between Team Liquid and Gaimin Gladiators drew a peak audience of 1.52 million viewers, the highest Dota 2 viewership in two years.
Riyadh Masters 2024
For the second consecutive year, Riyadh Masters offered the largest prize pool in Dota 2, surpassing even The International. The tournament saw Gaimin Gladiators secure their only championship of 2024, a notable shift from their dominant 2023 performance.
New Tournament Series
Several new competitive series emerged in 2024:
- PGL Wallachia made an impressive debut, with its first season achieving the second-highest peak viewership of the year. The grand finals between Team Spirit and Xtreme Gaming attracted nearly 487,000 concurrent viewers.
- BetBoom Dacha expanded its presence, hosting $1 million tournaments in Dubai and Belgrade. These events consistently drew over 350,000 peak viewers, outperforming established tournaments like ESL One Birmingham and Bangkok.
- Elite League launched with two distinct formats—an online season that ranked among the year’s top five most-watched tournaments, and a LAN event in Peru that saw reduced viewership.
Traditional Fixtures
DreamLeague maintained its popularity, running three seasons with a combined $3 million prize pool. Season 22, won by Team Falcons, achieved particular success as 2024’s most-watched online tournament.
The transformation of Dota 2’s competitive structure in 2024 appears to have rejuvenated the scene, fostering increased tournament diversity and maintaining strong viewer engagement despite changes to its flagship event. With more high-prize tournaments scheduled for 2025, the professional Dota 2 landscape continues to evolve and expand.
