The viewership of Dota 2’s annual tournament, The International, has dropped for the third year in a row, failing to keep up with its rival game, League of Legends. Despite positive feedback from the Dota 2 community, the numbers for TI 2023 pale in comparison to previous years, according to a report by Esports Charts.
TI 2023 had almost triple the viewership of Dota 2’s next-most-watched tournament, the Riyadh Masters, but it still falls short of past editions of The International. The event ranked fifth in terms of median viewership in 2023, with an average of 541,240 viewers. It narrowly surpassed VALORANT’s LOCK//IN São Paulo and Counter-Strike: Global Offensive’s last Major in Paris, while Mobile Legends, a surprise contender, saw several Southeast Asian events surpass TI 2023 in viewership.
In contrast, League of Legends’ Worlds 2023 leads the list by a significant margin, thanks to the successful launch of the Swiss stage format. With the best-of-five playoffs starting this week, the viewership for Worlds is expected to increase further, despite potential timezone difficulties. TI 2023 also faced similar challenges by returning to its home base in Seattle.
This year’s TI introduced a new format, spreading the tournament across three weekends with multiple stages. However, the event recorded similar broadcast hours compared to the previous edition.
Several factors contribute to the decline in TI’s viewership, with the removal of the battle pass and the reintroduction of the Compendium being the most significant. Dota players who usually participated in TI activities and earned cosmetics through the battle pass were unable to do so this year, likely impacting interest in the event.
The dwindling prize pool also played a role, with an 83 percent drop in rewards due to the absence of the battle pass. In previous years, teams competed for millions of dollars at TI, but the champions of TI 2023, Team Spirit, only received a modest $1,431,088 USD.
While The International remains prestigious, the removal of the Dota Pro Circuit and the emergence of rival events with substantial prize pools raise the question of what it will take to increase Dota 2 TI viewership again. One possible solution is to reinstate the battle pass and fulfill the desires of Dota 2 players, who have been calling for its return. However, players are also eager to see consistent updates and events throughout the year, rather than relying solely on TI as the main event.
Only time will tell if Valve will deliver on their promises regarding Dota 2 updates or if the true recovery of TI’s viewership lies in the introduction of a battle-pass-like product in the future.
Source: DOTESPORTS
