Valve’s MOBA Dota 2 has traditionally seen immense popularity among competitive gaming fans. A sequel to the original Dota, the game’s annual tournament The International draws competitive teams from around the world, pitting them in head-to-head in highly complicated battles. Now, statistics from Newzoo reveal that Valve’s MOBA is doing quite well on Twitch. During August, Dota 2 ranked number one for eSports hours on the livestreaming service.
The change comes as major news for Dota 2. Traditionally trailing behind League of Legends in eSports popularity, the bump in ranking shows that hype and tournament streams for The International can easily drive Dota 2‘s hours up on Twitch. Just compare last month’s statistics with July 2016’s data. With League of Legends clocking in 20.6 million views in July and Dota 2 pulling a humble 8.1 million, the switch comes as quite a change.
That said, League of Legends still leads the August list for total hours viewed, just as it did before. In particular, League comes in at 79.3 million hours total, Dota 2 at 51.6 million. But when it comes to raw eSports hours, Dota 2 blows the competition away.
One of this year’s hottest newcomers also makes a big showing on Newzoo’s top 10 list. Hitting the #5 rank, Overwatch clocks in at 18.3 million total hours, 3.1 million in eSports. Easily beating out Super Smash Bros. in eSports hours and just narrowly besting Starcraft II, Overwatch trails behind Counter-Strike: Global Offensive, which saw a significant jump down the chart this past month.
It’s hard to say whether Dota 2 will hold out over the second half of September. With The International going on during August, and Dota 2 ranking at #3 during July, it would make sense for Valve’s MOBA to slip back down the list. Still, League of Legends should be careful. With Dota 2‘s eSports scene only growing, there’s sure to be some close competition over the next couple of years.
