Dota 2 officially the most played PC game in the West

[Guild McCommunist]

So MOBAs have exploded in popularity recently. The incredibly specific genre has been around for years, starting with the Warcraft III mod Defense of the Ancients (now known simply as "Dota") but having expanded with various other games such as Heroes of Newerth and League of Legends. For years, League of Legends has been the top PC game, with its free-to-play and addictive MOBA gameplay garnering thousands of gamers each day. However, this has all changed, with the sequel to the game that started it all, Dota 2, becoming the most played PC game in the West.

It's still worth noting that Dota 2 isn't even released yet: it's in "closed beta". Although "closed" is more of a Dr. Evil air-quotes type of "closed", seeing as everyone and their dog has approximately 5 copies of it in their Steam inventory, or you can buy beta access and other goodies for $15.

It's also noting that Dota 2, outside of surpassing League of Legends, has also passed all the other most played PC games, such as World of Warcraft, Diablo III, Battlefield 3, Guild Wars 2, Minecraft, World of Tanks, and Counterstrike. However the data used does not account for "casual" or "browser-based" games such as Farmville. It's also worth noting this is only in the West; League of Legends is still immensely popular in the Asian market.

Still, it seems like a lot of people Do-ta Dota.

Source

 

[Gahars]

Whatever. I'm 2Prota4Dota.

 

[Satangel]

LoL > DOTA2 IMHO, and I can pretty much guarantee that in Belgium at least, way more people play LoL than DOTA2. I haven't given DOTA2 a real chance yet, LoL just has me firmly in its grip.

 

[Hells Malice]

Smite > Dota 2 > LoL.

If I had to pick between Dota 2 and LoL, Dota 2 definitely gets my vote. LoL has champions/heroes/whatever that I like more, but Dota 2 just feels better.
Hoping Dota 2 keeps doing well, or both tank and Smite takes over.
It might also be because in LoL, it's like the end of the fucking world as we know it if I do bad. yeah guys i'm like level 4 with no grasp on any champ except Ahri, deal with it. Haven't been bitched out in Dota 2 as of yet.

 

[geishroy]

Not that I care but your source doesn't really cite the info too well. Googling dfc intelligence brings me to a website clearly made in microsoft frontpage. I would hope the stats compiled are not from this firm. Also it would seem that a majority of the information they gathered was from xfire data, which could show bias.

Some digging reveals that their report costs $6000 just to view =/

 

[Elrinth]

The article doesn't reveal actual player numbers.

 

[Fluto]

So Dota 2 is now the most played game that hasn't been released as well? Sorry Minecraft, you're being kicked to second place.

 

[Shuny]

Imho, DotA 2 > LoL. It feels more tactical and clever.

 

[ilman]

Meh, DOTA 2 is better than the competition.
I still don't get what's driving my friends crazy to play LoL all day.

 

[notmeanymore]

I've played DotA 2 like once, and because of it I bet I count into that "most played" figure.
I didn't like DotA 2 much, but I'll give it another shot when it's out of beta. There's a lot of features that I miss from League.

 

[Arras]

Somewhat unrelated, but I will still maintain that Awesomenauts > LoL and DotA combined.

 

[gloweyjoey]

Despite the fact that this is only for the west, DotA 2 has masssive international community which has made it the most played game on steam, beating out Skyrim for most players online at the same time and beating out counterstrike for having the most people on throughout the day.

 

[p1ngpong]

Got to hand it to Valves viral marketing, I remember for a while there was an actual frenzy of people trying to get keys before everyone's inventory got saturated with them. It kind of reminds me of the Cartmanland episode of southpark where at first Dota2 was actually exclusive and then rapidly became open to everyone while still feigning a facade of exclusivity.

Somewhat unrelated, but I will still maintain that Awesomenauts > LoL and DotA combined.

I have to agree with that. I have given dota2 many chances and tried to get into it and it just doesn't feel fun at all. Awesomenaughts is actually genuinely fun to play from pretty much the minute you pick it up.

 

[Ergo]

Whatever. I'm 2Prota4Dota.

Needs more food.

 

[Black-Ice]

League of Legends master race

 

[Satangel]

Despite the fact that this is only for the west, DotA 2 has masssive international community which has made it the most played game on steam, beating out Skyrim for most players online at the same time and beating out counterstrike for having the most people on throughout the day.

Hmmmm, LoL released this fact a few months ago though:

That's around the number Steam in total has playing at peak moments. So it sure as hell is more than DOTA2. This is global though, not just the West.
Still, LoL > DOTA2

 

[nryn99]

I don't think Dota 2 is already the most played. Although it did say in the west. I only queue in SEA(best server) so idk what happens in US and EU servers.


edit: obligatory Dota2>LoL

 

[porkiewpyne]

Maybe a large number of people move over to Dota 2 because LoL is now dominated by Asians. Just like in SC and the original Dota. TOO STRONK!! Hue hue hue.

 

[lolzed]

Maybe a large number of people move over to Dota 2 because LoL is now dominated by Asians. Just like in SC and the original Dota. TOO STRONK!! Hue hue hue.

Actually, in the last International(Valve's tourny for Dota 2, $1M cash prize for first), Asians dominated too, only Na'Vi(Ukranian) was the only Western team to place in the top 8(they ended up 2nd, losing to the Chinese)

 

[Satangel]

Actually, in the last International(Valve's tourny for Dota 2, $1M cash prize for first), Asians dominated too, only Na'Vi(Ukranian) was the only Western team to place in the top 8(they ended up 2nd, losing to the Chinese)

Ah it's not that bad in LoL (yet), in the best 5 teams there sure are 2 or 3 Western teams. Asians best though, definitely :/