Dota 2 and CS:GO compared – Does Valve have a favorite child?

As both Dota 2 and CS:GO have become massive games in terms of player base and their respective esports scene, let’s look at Valve’s investment in both games.

Whether Valve actually puts more effort into the Dota 2 or CS:GO scene has been a quite heavily debated topic from fans and players alike. Both have grown to be massive games with a huge following, which in turn has led to a stable and growing esports environment for both of them as well. Let’s first take a look at direct comparisons and information about both games, before diving into Valve’s handling of them.

Steady growth versus stagnation

In terms of the player base, CS:GO has now steady growth over the past eight years. This recent year CS:GO even succeeded the 1 million mark when it comes to active players, a big surge of growth considering the peak amount of active players back in January 2018 was (only) at 715.000 active players. When it comes to monthly active users, CS:GO sees more than 24 million players, according to data from Steam.

If we contrast this to Dota 2, the numbers are different. Even with the COVID-19 pandemic increasing the player base of a lot of games, Dota 2 has seen it’s monthly active users go down. With more than 1 million active users in January 2016, by the end of 2020 that number went down to just over 700.000 players. In numbers Valve published themselves, we can see that trend continue in the monthly active users as well, going down from more than 13 million active users per month in 2018 to just over 11 million users today.

Purely looking at the player base of both games, it would seem CS:GO is still showing signs of growth, while Dota 2 finds it more and more difficult to attract new players to the game. We might very well find out one of the reasons behind this, if we look at other games within the genre.

Compete for attention

Until recently, CS:GO was kind of its own thing within the genre. Offering highly mechanical gameplay combined with awareness, map knowledge and game knowledge. Competitors often found it difficult to replicate these conditions within their own game. Games like Overwatch and Rainbow Six Siege operate within the same genre, but it’s difficult to say they’re real competitors to the experience that CS:GO provides. Only until recently has CS:GO been really challenged, with VALORANT by Riot Games entering the scene.

You don’t have to tell Dota 2 about Riot Games, as League of Legends is their most direct competitor within the genre. As of 2021, League of Legends far exceeds the monthly active players of Dota 2, clocking in at over 100 million players.While this direct competition may stunt the growth and stayability of Dota 2, it does give Valve an incentive to directly invest more into the game than in a more self-sufficient title such as CS:GO.

Things might be changing soon, however, as VALORANT has been gaining more and more attention as a direct competitor to CS:GO. Numerous professional players have made the switch to the game and with their Challengers circuit starting soon, we’ll get to see just how much of an impact VALORANT will have on CS:GO and its viewership.

Viewership

When looking at viewership, the numbers are a little wonky for Dota 2 due to their not being an International this year due to the COVID-19 pandemic. In general, Dota 2 is still pulling solid viewership numbers for their events and competitions alike. Recently, the DreamLeague Season 14 DPC EU Upper Division still peaked at 175.000 viewers with other regions, especially counting viewers, competitions and events from Asia as well, showing similar numbers. Over the past five years however, DOTA 2 viewership has seen a slight decline.

Recently the BLAST Premier Global Finals attracted upwards of 600.000 viewers for CS:GO, while competitions such as Flashpoint Season 2 peaked at 200.000 viewers. CS:GO has seen some impressive viewership over the year as even smaller events have been seeing growth. In contrast with Dota 2, CS:GO has seen some growth in the past year when it comes to viewership.

Money, Majors & The International

One of the biggest discussions to be had is Valve’s attention spent towards the esports scene of both games. It’s no surprise that one of the biggest draws of the Dota 2 competitive scene is The International, which features the highest prize pool out of any esports event and is organized by Valve themselves. The Dota 2 community can contribute directly to the prize pool of the event. With 5 Majors added to the mix, fans and players have a lot to look forward to.

In comparison, the Dota 2 Pro Circuit over the different regions is a bit of a mess. Fans, players and viewers alike have complained about the format and how difficult it is to follow. Valve has made efforts to make things easier however, creating an app for the Dota Pro Circuit and adding some in-client options to better keep track of the competitions.

Meanwhile, the CS:GO Majors which are sponsored by Valve just don’t stack up to a prestigious and big event like The International. The prize pool of these events contains $1.000.000 which is a fair bit below the $34 million dollars The International offered a while back, or the fact Dota 2 has 5 Majors compared to the 2 in CS:GO each year. With numerous other events offering similar prize pools and regular high-level competition, the only thing that still remains is the prestige of participating or having won a Major.

Fans have been clamoring for the CS:GO Majors to include a similar style of community participation to The International when it comes to their prize pool, or a whole new event like it in general. Even though the teams receive direct support with the stickers that are released each time around, it does seem like Valve has a different direction in mind for CS:GO than it does for Dota 2 and don’t want to follow the exact same model across both games.

Talented rookies

When looking at the treatment of new talented players trying to find their way into the esports landscape, it’s obvious Valve offers more of a helping hand in Dota 2 then it does in the CS:GO scene. Players who are performing consistently in Dota 2 and climb high on the MMR ladder will more often find it easier to land a team to play with. Things are different in CS:GO, where Valve once again favours a more hands-off approach. Despite the fact there are numerous tournament organizers organizing competitions and tournaments for the rookie scene, it’s often difficult for non-established players to get noticed or break the mold.

Updating and fixing the game

When it comes to updates in the game, new content and patching bugs, Dota 2 is clearly more favoured by Valve than CS:GO. Dota 2 regularly gets new heroes added to the game, bugs get immediate attention from the developer team, players get new content in the form of battle passes or challenges and more. It’s easy to see why long-time players have difficulty letting go of Dota 2 once they are invested, as new content keeps on refreshing the game in new and interesting ways.

Things are a little different when looking at CS:GO. As CS:GO has built itself on its existing maps; strategies and weapons, it’s more difficult to keep things fresh and new. Even a small change could have big repercussions on the competitive scene (and the casual one). Valve is also pretty slow on patching bugs and fixing issues with the game once they’ve been pointed out, often delaying them or just plainly telling teams or players not to use them as the issue is just never fixed or pushed back. Often times much to the dismay of the players.

CS:GO has been seeing more and more content added to the game as of late, featuring operations, and it does have to be said their skin market offers another layer to the game. That being said, Valve’s involvement in general remains pretty minimal.

Favourites?

While it’s of course a matter of judgement, it does seem like Valve favours Dota 2 as a game and an esport over CS:GO. They’ve got a little more of a firm grip on the Dota 2 esports scene, update the game more regularly and in general seem to spend more time on the game as a whole. When it comes to CS:GO, Valve doesn’t seem to have any issues relinquishing control over the competitive scene and letting it be more self-sufficient, for better or for worse, aside from the Majors.

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Image credit: Valve
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