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Dota 2 has an Among Us custom modeOct 27, 2020 - The LoadoutIf you've played Among Us, you'll know there's an art to being the imposter. You have to skulk around, pretending to do tasks, all the while stalking your fellow crewmates. Well, you can do that inside Dota 2 now, thanks to an Among Us-inspired Arcade mode. The custom mode, which was created by two Russian YouTubers, pits ten players up against each other. Just like the InnerSloth game, eight will be innocent crew members who need to complete tasks to survive and two will be imposters. The imposters can kill innocent heroes once every 30 seconds and sabotage a part of the map up to four times. There is a difference to the main game though - imposters can use their special ability to get the upper hand over their enemies. The Monkey King, for example, can hide in plain sight to kill unsuspecting crew mates, and Rubick can steal the ability of a killed player. Read the rest of the story... RELATED LINKS: Dota 2 team suspended by Beyond The Summit for "cheap labour" tweet If you love esports, come take our quick survey New UKIE report details the true value of the UK esports sector Dota 2 update for 27 October 2020Oct 26, 2020 - SteamDB Read patchnotes on SteamDB...Dota 2 update for 26 October 2020Oct 26, 2020 - SteamDB Read patchnotes on SteamDB...Dota 2 update for 26 October 2020Oct 26, 2020 - SteamDB Read patchnotes on SteamDB...Dota 2 team suspended by Beyond The Summit for "cheap labour" tweetOct 26, 2020 - The LoadoutA Dota 2 team has been suspended from Beyond The Summit's DOTA Summit Online 13 after it tweeted a "derogatory message" about its South American opponents. North American team Plasma1337x, which at the time was 0-0-3 at Summit 13, was scheduled to play beastcoast in the final fixture of October 25. However, organisers BTS awarded beastcoast the win and suspended Plasma1337x from playing the best-of-three series after it was made aware of an inflammatory tweet by the team. While it has now been deleted, Gosu Gamers reports via a screenshot that it says: "We play vs beastcoast today in Beyond The Summit summit 13 with beastcoast using cheap South American labour against us." BTS described the tweet as "derogatory" and "harmful to both our event and the Dota community." Since getting its suspension, Plasma1337x's account has now deleted all past tweets. Gosu Gamers also reports that the organisation declared it would stop operating in esports entirely before it disappeared from social media. Read the rest of the story... RELATED LINKS: Dota 2 has an Among Us custom mode If you love esports, come take our quick survey New UKIE report details the true value of the UK esports sector If you love esports, come take our quick surveyOct 23, 2020 - The LoadoutIf you read The Loadout regularly, then you'll know we love talking about esports. From LoL Worlds 2020 to Cloud9's Counter-Strike: Global Offensive colossal rebuild, there's something there for everyone - especially in the day and age where pretty much all tournaments are being played online. So if you've spent most of lockdown watching League of Legends or waiting for Andreas 'Xyp9x' Højsleth's return to Astralis' core roster, then we want to get to know you better. We're running a survey to find out more about the esports titles you watch, how long you watch them for, and if you play them too. It's being organised by our parent company, Network N, with the sole idea of finding out what games you all enjoy watching, reading about, and, of course, playing. We'll use this information to help inform our strategy so we can give you more of what you love on this lime green website of ours. Read the rest of the story... RELATED LINKS: Dota 2 has an Among Us custom mode Dota 2 team suspended by Beyond The Summit for "cheap labour" tweet New UKIE report details the true value of the UK esports sector Dota 2 update for 21 October 2020Oct 20, 2020 - SteamDB Read patchnotes on SteamDB...Dota 2 update for 20 October 2020Oct 20, 2020 - SteamDB Read patchnotes on SteamDB...New UKIE report details the true value of the UK esports sectorOct 20, 2020 - The LoadoutThe United Kingdom's esports scene has grown at an average rate of 8.5% annually between 2016 and 2019, according to a new report. The Value of Esports in the UK report, which was commissioned by UK trade body Ukie, aims to educate policy makers about the real value of the sector going forward and the opportunities it may hold for the country. The report, which was compiled by Olsberg SPI and Nordicity, claims that while the UK sector provided around 1,200 jobs last year, its market share of the global esports industry sits at just 8%. However, more could be done to promote this market share by pivoting pre-existing policies and adapting new ones. As such, Ukie has come up with eight recommendations for the Government and other policy makers based on the findings of the report that will help harness the potential of esports. These stretch from Government-backed campaigns and funds to finessing the current visa process for players. Read the rest of the story... RELATED LINKS: Dota 2 has an Among Us custom mode Dota 2 team suspended by Beyond The Summit for "cheap labour" tweet If you love esports, come take our quick survey Dota 2 update for 20 October 2020Oct 19, 2020 - SteamDB Read patchnotes on SteamDB...Valve aims to combat Dota 2 toxicity with a CS:GO-style 'Overwatch' systemOct 19, 2020 - PC Gamerhttps://cdn.mos.cms.futurecdn.net/uVpuyGJf5Jhmsa23mBsVbb.jpg https://cdn.mos.cms.futurecdn.net/uVpuyGJf5Jhmsa23mBsVbb.jpg Valve is taking steps to crack down on smurfs, account boosting, and toxic behavior in Dota 2, with measures that will include the implementation of a system similar to that of Overwatch—not the Blizzard shooter, but the system in CS:GO that gives "qualified and experienced members of the community" the ability to review and act on reports of player toxicity. First launched way back in 2013, Overwatch gives CS:GO players the ability to upload gameplay clips that they believe contain evidence of cheating or griefing. Instead of waiting for Valve to act on it, however, it's passed along to an "investigator," who will examine the clip to determine whether or not an offense has taken place. Everything is anonymous, so there's no risk of anyone getting hosed because of a pre-existing beef, and because the number of people scrutinizing in-game activity is much higher than it would be otherwise, it increases the odds that offenders are going to be caught, and—in theory, at least—reduces the likelihood of bad behavior in the first place.. CS:GO's Overwatch is focused primarily on nabbing cheaters rather than toxic jerks—"The penalty assigned to a suspect is proportional to their behavior. Suspects who are convicted of griefing are given a moderate cooldown, whereas cheaters are removed from the game entirely," the Counter-Strike Blog explains—but mechanically it should be a fairly straightforward transfer, although at this point Valve hasn't revealed any specifics on what it's got in mind. "In terms of toxicity and game ruining behaviors from players, we are working on a new Overwatch style system, similar in some ways to that of CS:GO," Valve said in the most recent Dota 2 update. "We aren’t ready to share more information about this yet, but we will as soon as we are able. We are hoping to get this in the game as soon as possible." Valve also warned that it has improved its ability to detect smurf accounts—new accounts created by experienced players so they can hammer on actual newcomers for shits and giggles, basically—and is now starting to filter them out in matchmaking. "Smurf accounts are now much more likely to play with other smurfs only, this includes parties where only one player is a smurf. They are also likely to inherit any negative behavior scores of their alternate accounts, to limit their negative impact when playing," Valve said. "We’ve also done a few more improvements on making new accounts converge to their correct MMR faster, however there is still more to be done on that front. We have a couple of approaches to solve that which we are working on but they are in the research/experimental stage at this point." Similar action is being taken against booster accounts: Valve said that more than 14,000 accounts have been banned over the past 30 days, and it has "set up systems to continually ban for boosting moving for...Dota 2 update for 19 October 2020Oct 19, 2020 - SteamDB Read patchnotes on SteamDB...Dota 2 is getting an "Overwatch-style system" similar to CS:GO'sOct 19, 2020 - PCGamesNLast week, Dota 2 developer Valve revealed a hefty batch of updates headed the MOBA game's way for its Fall Season. Covering several of the multiplayer game's aspects, like its Guilds, Dota Plus subscription service, and more, the post also mentioned a new feature in development - a report evaluation system that takes a leaf out of CS:GO's book. "In terms of toxicity and game ruining behaviours from players, we are working on a new Overwatch-style system, similar in some ways to that of CS:GO," Valve reveals in the dev post. "We aren't ready to share more information about this yet, but we will as soon as we are able," the studio adds. However, it seems it might not be too far away from implementation into Dota 2, given the dev adds: "We are hoping to get this in the game as soon as possible". It's far from clear exactly what form this system might take from this announcement, however Counter-Strike: Global Offensive's own version could offer some kind of indication. Read the rest of the story... RELATED LINKS: Dota 2 update brings hefty Dota Plus and Guilds changes for the Fall Season Fufu Ninja is a "free-for-all" Dota 2 custom game based on a popular Warcraft 3 creation Dota 2 fan map 'Aghanim's Pathfinders' gets a hefty update with more heroes Dota 2 update for 18 October 2020Oct 18, 2020 - SteamDB Read patchnotes on SteamDB...Dota 2 update for 16 October 2020Oct 16, 2020 - SteamDB Read patchnotes on SteamDB...Dota 2's next hero should be coming by "the end of November"Oct 16, 2020 - The LoadoutEver since The International 10 was postponed, Dota 2 fans have become increasingly worried about the lack of communication from Valve over the game's competitive scene and future updates. However, Valve has now broken that silence and given us a glimmer of hope for new content coming later this year. According to the developer, a new hero is in the works, but we won't get to see them until the end of November at the earliest. While this is still quite a while to wait for fans desperate for new content and a new Dota 2 ranked meta, more content is on the way. "We are currently aiming for end of November for a new hero release, followed by more that are spread throughout next year with the next one in the first quarter next year," Valve says in its latest blog. "Recently we've been thinking about trying an overall development approach of spreading out updates during the year, rather than only having most content and updates centered around The International. We are hoping a steady state of content will prove to be more engaging to users than the previous approaches." Read the rest of the story... RELATED LINKS: If you love esports, come take our quick survey New UKIE report details the true value of the UK esports sector Dota 2 makes the MMR reset optional this season Dota 2 makes the MMR reset optional this seasonOct 16, 2020 - The LoadoutMMR resets have become part and parcel of a competitive ranking system. However, in Dota 2, the soft resets that usually take place every six months aren't very popular and Valve has decided to counter that by making them optional this season. Valve has been reluctant to push the big red button on resets apparently, so this season, as an experiment, the developer is allowing players to opt in and out of MMR recalibration. This follows a "lot of feedback about how valuable" this setting is to players. "We are making the MMR reset optional, and for those who want to participate, we instead spread it out so it doesn't create to much volatility at the same time (on top of the volatility that already exists when you enter recalibration," Valve's latest blog says. "We hope this will remove most of the downsides of MMR resets, and let the people that really want to do it be able to do so in a little bit more of a stable environment." Read the rest of the story... RELATED LINKS: New UKIE report details the true value of the UK esports sector Dota 2's next hero should be coming by "the end of November" Dota 2 caster slams Valve for prioritising The International's prize pools Dota 2 getting a new hero in November, more next year and a CS:GO style Overwatch systemOct 16, 2020 - GamingOnLinuxValve are trying to communicate a little more now, and they've announced some major changes for Dota 2 along with info on more to come. Read the full article here: https://www.gamingonlinux.com/2020/10/dota-2-getting-a-new-hero-in-november-more-next-year-and-a-csgo-style-overwatch-system Dota 2 update brings hefty Dota Plus and Guilds changes for the Fall SeasonOct 16, 2020 - PCGamesNDota 2 subscription service Dota Plus and the MOBA game's Guilds feature are in for some hefty updates, developer Valve has announced. The multiplayer game's autumn season has arrived, and with it some additions and tweaks to Dota Plus's features, changes to how Guild levels and perks work, as well as some information from the studio about Autumnal Treasure 2020, Shards, the game's Ranked Season, and how it'll communicate with the community going forward. "The Fall Season is upon us and we're excited to announce updates to Dota Plus and Guilds," Valve says in a new dev post. "The Season begins today and it will run through the beginning of December, 2020." First up, the big changes headed to the game include a new way for Dota Plus members to scoop shards - a "new season of quests for Fall 2020" means members can earn up to 57,850 shards (alongside the existing ways to rack up the in-game currency). Additionally, the update means Plus members can also now use a "new Role Assistant hero grid arrangement". Read the rest of the story... RELATED LINKS: Dota 2 is getting an "Overwatch-style system" similar to CS:GO's Fufu Ninja is a "free-for-all" Dota 2 custom game based on a popular Warcraft 3 creation Dota 2 fan map 'Aghanim's Pathfinders' gets a hefty update with more heroes Dota 2 update for 15 October 2020Oct 15, 2020 - SteamDB Read patchnotes on SteamDB...Dota 2's The International 9 was the Game's Most Watched Event Ever with Over 1 Million Viewers on TwitchAug 26, 2019 - GitHypThe International 2019 made headlines earlier this month when it became the biggest prize pool ever for an esports tournament with $34 million on the line. And with so much at stake, early Sunday morning, Dota 2 set even more records with its first-ever back-to-back champions and its highest viewer count ever on Twitch. Last year’s champions, Europe’s OG, absolutely dominated this year’s event which went late into Saturday night and peaked with 1.1 million viewers early Sunday morning during their 3-1 Grand Final victory over Europe’s team Liquid. After last year’s TI8 Grand Finals saw a 100k decline in viewers, this year’s TI9 had an impressive comeback with a 51% increase in viewership on Twitch. But what was most impressive about this year’s record-breaking stream for Dota 2 was the timing of the live stream on Twitch. With most of Twitch’s regular viewer base still asleep in the United States when this year’s main event ended at 8AM ET/ 5AM PT, TI9 crushed Dota 2’s previous peak of 845k viewers that took place during more normal hours two years ago at TI7 in Seattle.Dota 2’s Player Base is the Highest it's Been in 2 YearsFeb 11, 2019 - GitHypOnce Steam’s most popular game (before PUBG took over), Dota 2’s player base has been on a steady decline since peaking with over a million concurrent players back in 2016. But a new user-created custom game mode and less competition from Blizzard have resulted in Steam's second most popular game making a comeback with Dota 2's player counts now the highest they’ve been in two years. Similar to Dota’s own origin story, a custom map created by Chinese developer, Drodo Games, called “Auto Chess” has captured the attention of Dota 2’s player base in a way that Valve once dreamed only Artifact could. In Auto Chess, players fight across an 8x8 field that mimics a chessboard using Dota’s own heroes for game pieces. Auto Chess' gameplay has been able to create its own little niche of MOBA players who want a greater focus on strategy and less emphasis on fast-paced APM. Dota 2’s in-game counter for Auto Chess has at times shown over 200k concurrent players, which helps explain Dota 2’s own 17% increase in players from January’s 491k average to an average of 573k over the past 30 days. And while Auto Chess can account for most of Dota 2’s new/returning players, another factor has been Blizzard’s announcement that they’ll be shifting focus away from Heroes of the Storm. Considered the third most popular MOBA in the world behind League of Legends and Dota 2, news of Blizzard moving developers to other projects and canceling HotS’ major esports events has made Dota’s community look even more appealing to HotS players looking to abandon ship. Auto Chess isn’t likely to become the next Dota or PUBG creating a new genre overnight, but with its popularity increasing among players, streamers, and catching on even more in China, Valve shouldn’t take any chances letting this developer get away – especially not with Artifact dropping outside of Steam’s top 100 most played games.Dota 2’s The International 2018 Finale was Down Over 100k Viewers Compared to Last Year on TwitchAug 27, 2018 - GitHypEven with a better first day, bigger prize pool, and an epic storybook ending, this year’s biggest Dota 2 event couldn’t manage to top last year's viewers on Twitch. The International 8’s grand finals brought in a peak of 730k concurrent viewers as Europe’s OG took China’s PSG.LGD all the way to the very last game of a best-of-five heart-pounding finale. But while OG’s Cinderella story had Dota 2’s analysts, commentators, and viewers all on the edge of their seats in what many consider TI’s greatest grand finals, it fell short of last year’s peak of 845k viewers. TI7’s far less exciting finale featuring EU’s Team Liquid taking home the victory over Newbee in just 3 quick games. And resulted in an impressive 44% increase in viewership compared to TI6 on Twitch which is still Dota 2’s most watched stream ever. Known for having the biggest single event prize pool in all of esports, The International once again set a new peak of $25 million this year with OG taking home $11 million for first place. However, the $23.9 million contributed by players just barely topped last year’s player contribution of $23.2 million. And surprisingly, it was Day 1 of TI8 that had 100k more viewers than last year’s event. But with player counts down 35% since Dota 2’s peak two years ago and other games like Fortnite taking over Twitch, we predicted that TI8 wouldn’t be able to top TI7’s finale. One thing we didn’t see coming, however, was Valve’s unexpected and accidental reveal of their own streaming service, Steam.tv, which contributed to the decline in viewers on Twitch. Their new site pulled away over 80k viewers from Twitch during TI8’s final matches – but even with the numbers combined, TI7’s viewership still fell short of last year's record-setting peak.Dota 2’s Viewer Base and Prize Pool is Bigger Than Ever at The International 2018Aug 21, 2018 - GitHypWith a peak of 1.3 million players back in March 2016, the decline of Dota 2’s player base and the rise of PUBG on Steam has led to many claiming that Valve’s popular MOBA is a "dead game." But even with the player base at half of what it once was, Dota 2 is far from dead when looking at the game’s stats and popularity as a competitive esport. Last year's biggest Dota 2 event, The International 7, saw its peak viewers on Twitch increase by 44% compared to TI6's grand finals going from a peak of 588k viewers to 845k viewers. This year, TI8 on Twitch is already off to a better start with a peak of 645k viewers on its first day. An increase of 100k viewers when compared to 2017’s first day peak of 546k viewers. Dota 2’s remaining player base have also proven their loyalty and demand for more in-game content by contributing $23 million towards the free-to-play game's Battle Pass system and increasing TI8’s total prize pool to $25 million – the largest it's ever been and an increase of over $200k compared to last year. The International 8’s grand finals are set for this Saturday, August 25th, and while it might not see another 44% increase in viewers, the event should be able to continue its growth and top last year’s peak concurrent viewers on Twitch.Dota 2 Hits New Viewer Peak with The International Up 44% Compared to Last Year on TwitchAug 15, 2017 - GitHypMore Dota 2 viewers than ever tuned in over the weekend to watch The International 7 on Twitch. And with good reason. The Valve-sponsored event for their multiplayer online battle arena game had its highest prize pool ever with a shocking $24 million on the line and the champs taking home over $10 million. Getting into the Twitch numbers, Dota 2 brought in a peak of 845k viewers as Team Liquid defeated Newbee in Saturday's Grand Final. This was an impressive 44% increase in viewers compared to last year when TI6 brought in 588k viewers at its peak. [caption id="attachment_284426" align="aligncenter" width="770"] Dota 2's Peak Viewer Counts on Twitch via GitHyp[/caption] The increase in popularity has also brought Dota 2 closer than ever to topping its biggest competition, League of Legends. Riot’s MOBA hit its own all-time peak of 988k viewers back in 2015, but compared to 2016, LoL’s viewership for its own World Championship event was actually down 5% last October on Twitch. TI7 also helped put Dota 2 over 1 billion total views on Twitch. An impressive number, however, LoL still more than doubles that with 2.1 billion as Twitch's most watched game. But in terms of big eSports competitions, both MOBAs still have a way to go before dethroning Counter-Strike: Global Offensive’s record-setting 1.1 million peak viewers that the Valve shooter brought in earlier this year.Steam's Most Played Games of 2016Jan 7, 2017 - GitHyp2016 was another great year for games, but it was also a year filled with the the rise and fall of many new games that over-promised and under-delivered. As a result, Steam's list of most played games in 2016 ended up looking almost the exact same as it did in 2015. Last year's top titles held their spots as newcomers who started off strong quickly lost their player bases by the end of the year. Looking at new releases on Steam in 2016 tracked hourly by GitHyp, the highly hyped and highly controversial, No Man's Sky, had the highest peak player count with 212k concurrent players in a single hour.
  1. Dota 2 / 1,286,617 peak players (#1 in 2015)
  2. Counter-Strike: Global Offensive / 845,806 peak players (#2 in 2015)
  3. No Man's Sky / 212,321 peak players (new)
  4. XCOM 2 / 132,834 peak players (new)
  5. Dark Souls III / 129,922 peak players (new)
Other newcomers such as XCOM 2 (132k players) and Dark Souls III (129k players) also had great launches, but only peaked at half of NMS' record-setting number to round out the top 5. While No Man's Sky, XCOM 2, Dark Souls III, and others such as Tom Clancy's The Division and Total War: Warhammer all had strong launches, none were able to hold their ground and each had huge drops in players that made headlines. Other previous heavy-hitters also made headlines due to under-performing launches such as Call of Duty which was down 76% from last year and Watch Dogs 2 which dropped 61% since the last entry in the series. When looking at the more stable average players per hour metric, 2016 ended the same as 2015 with the exception of Fallout 4 -- which didn't just fall out of the top 5, but also the top 10 at #12.
  1. Dota 2 / 636,607 avg. players per hour (#1 in 2015)
  2. Counter-Strike: Global Offensive / 360,600 avg. players per hour (#2 in 2015)
  3. Team Fortress 2 / 50,802 avg. players per hour (#4 in 2015)
  4. Grand Theft Auto V / 40,258 avg. players per hour (#5 in 2015)
  5. Sid Meier's Civilization V / 37,885 avg players per hour (#9 in 2015)
Dark Souls III dropped to #21 on Steam with an average of 14,186 players per hour. No Man's Sky dropped all the way down to #41 on Steam with an average of 8,393 players per hour. And XCOM 2 barely made the top 50 coming it at #44 with an average of 7,815 players per hour. When looking at the average players per hour, it was actually the free-to-play team-based shooter, Paladins, that ended as 2016's strongest new release ranking in at #15 on Steam with an average of 22,809 players per hour.

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