Slowly and gradually, we’re approaching The International this year – the largest esports event ever. Accordingly, the event has been a long time coming and the community can’t wait. Indeed, in this time of anticipation, let’s dive into a review of the past year of competitive Dota 2 2020/21!
This Time Last Year – Left in the Dust
First, we’ll have to start by talking about the elephant in the room.
This time last year, competitive Dota 2 was in a poor state. Accordingly, the community suffered the cancellation of last year’s iteration of The International.
What’s more, is that other esports scenes were still hosting events – such as their direct competitors in League of Legends who managed to host the Worlds 2020 regardless of the global situation.
With the Dota Pro Circuit 2021 having to reform due to the cancellation, casual and competitive communities were curious to learn what’s next.
Here’s how the year went!
Fact Sheet – The Best Dota 2 Esports Events Over the Year – Competitive Dota 2 2020/21
As always, we’d like to credit Esports Charts for all the viewership statistics.
OMEGA League: Europe Immortal Division – August 2020
- Online
- $500,000
- Peak Viewers – 412,391
- Average Viewers – 116,657
At this point in time, it was still uncertain as to whether or not The International would be taking place or not.
Bearing this in mind, excitement was at an all-time high in anticipation – with the OMEGA League taking place right before it to warm up the teams.
This is easily viewable in the strong viewership statistics this event demonstrated, despite being online.
ESL One Germany 2020 – October 2020
- Online
- $400,000
- Peak Viewers – 272,973
- Average Viewers – 74,033
Here’s where we start to see the effects of cancelling the biggest event of the year.
Trying to replace the excitement, ESL One Germany was an honest attempt at hosting some competition to start off another season. However, as you can tell, viewership simply wasn’t there in October compared to previous events.
EPIC League Season 2 Division 1 – December 2020
- Online
- $500,000
- Peak Viewers – 263,542
- Average Viewers – 108,781
Moving onwards to December, another event from EPIC helped light up the holidays with some competition.
Yet, once again, with $500,000 on the line, viewership fell slightly short despite the great level of competition at hand. Also, it had been a long while since an offline event with fans was held for the community – a loss that was felt.
ONE Esports Singapore Major 2021 – March 2021
- Offline
- $500,000
- Peak Viewers – 597,732
- Average Viewers – 194,703
As we enter March, this is where things really spice up for the community
Finally, after half a year, competitive Dota 2 would enjoy a live event with fans present.
Indeed, this lit a fire in the community, with viewership spiking to almost 600,000 at one point!
Beyond this event, the fact that it was held was a sign that The International would be a possibility this year.
WePlay AniMajor – June 2021
- Offline
- $500,000
- Peak Viewers – 645,141
- Average Viewers – 272,806
With this year’s The International confirmed, excitement was through the roof.
Every event began to rack up the viewership, as exemplified by the WePlay AniMajor 2021 held in June. This offline Major kicked things into gear with a peak of 650,000 viewership at one point.
ESL One Summer 2021 – June 2021
- Online
- $400,000
- Peak Viewers – 282,677
- Average Viewers – 151,393
Of course, such momentum will waver back and forth before the main event. Accordingly, ESL took this opportunity to host some competitive events to fill in the time.
ESL One Fall 2021 – August 2021
- Online
- $400,000
- Peak Viewers – 232,433
- Average Viewers – 114,660
And now, the last event we have to discuss before the big one later this year.
Accordingly, with the conclusion of ESL One Fall 2021, the dip of viewership is not worth concerning over – especially since expectations are higher than ever for this year’s The International planned for October.
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