DPC 2021/2022 first divisions statistics — is Dota 2 esports audience decreasing?
With the end of Dota Pro Circuit 2021/2022 Tour 3 the regular Dota 2 esports season is over, and we have only the majors and The International to look forward to. In the new feature we'll take a look at the audience reach in the six regions for the whole competitive year.
It is important to note that we have taken the data for the first divisions only, as the strongest and most popular teams play there, and that is where the battle for quotas for the majors takes place. Combining with the data of the second divisions, the statistics would be less informative, as little-known teams whose matches rarely attract a large audience usually play there.
Western Europe, as expected, was the most popular region in the DPC 2021/2022 season. Over the three tours, the Europeans' matches accumulated 23.8 million Hours Watched. The broadcasts generated 88K Average Viewers and 246K Peak Viewers. Europe once again showed that it is the key region for the Dota 2 esports scene.
As expected, Eastern Europe came second in terms of audience reach. For three tours in total this region accumulated 14.5 million Hours Watched and 197.7K Peak Viewers. The 40% gap between Eastern and Western Europe was caused by problems during the spring season. The matches in Eastern Europe started a month later than planned due to the war in Ukraine, and instead of a full round-robin group, competitors had to play in a double-elimination playoffs bracket. While in other regions the season lasted more than a month, in Eastern Europe all matches were played in a week, which resulted in fewer Hours Watched numbers. The gap would have been less dramatic in case of equal conditions.
Southeast Asia came third in the rankings. This region shows steady growth by audience reach in 2022 and attracts more and more Dota 2 fans from season to season. DPC 2021/2022 matches accumulated 10.5 million Hours Watched and 111K Peak Viewers in total. Note that it was Southeast Asia that was the leader by airtime.
North America and China accumulated 6.5 million and 5.7 million Hours Watched in DPC season 2021/2022, respectively. China, meanwhile, had a higher Peak Viewers numbers: 93.7K vs 79.4K for North America, matches between the grands of the Chinese scene can attract a significantly larger audience, while North America has virtually no competitors to EG in terms of audience.
South America was the weakest region in terms of audience reach. All the matches in the first division accumulated just over 4 million Hours Watched, which is only about 6.3% of the six regions' total. Peak Viewers number reached 49K.
Season-to-season dynamics
Looking at the dynamics from season to season, there are some interesting patterns across regions. In Western, Eastern Europe, as well as North America and China, it was the winter season that attracted the biggest audience. We could see a slight dip in the viewership in the spring, but the Hours Watched numbers rose again in the summer. This is partly because of the way the competition year is divided. Viewers just started to get acquainted with the new teams formed during the transfer window after The International 2021 in winter. In addition, the New Year's holidays provided for more free time to devote to esports. The excitement gradually faded in the spring and even the release of the balance patches did not help to change the situation dramatically. The attention of viewers towards the leagues returned in the summer, as this was the season when the most important matches were played. They determined the participants of the last major and had a great significance for the final position of the teams in the DPC rankings.
The exceptions to this dynamic were two regions — Southeast Asia and South America. Audience engagement gradually increased from the winter season to the summer season there. This may indicate that in other regions viewers followed closely their league only if there was extra drama, and the SEA and SA trend indicates a steady increase in Dota 2 popularity in those regions.
One more interesting thing about the Average Viewers numbers in the spring season for Eastern Europe: the matches attracted more viewers than in other regions as the organizers had to change the format. There were 85K Average Viewers on the broadcasts: fans felt more comfortable watching the tournament when it lasted a week instead of a month and a half. Maybe Valve should think about changing the format. Especially since the players themselves have been asking for it for a long time.
Comparing Dota Pro Circuit 2021/2022 seasons, we can see a gradual audience outflow. The best Average Viewers numbers in the largest regions — Western and Eastern Europe — was recorded in the spring season of 2021 (Tour 2), which preceded The International 2021 (the tournament was subsequently postponed from the summer to the autumn).
The Average Viewers numbers for a broadcast was 143.4K during the DPC 2021 Tour 2 in Western Europe and this figure dropped to 85.3K viewers during DPC 2021/2022 Tour 3. The audience outflow was not so significant in Eastern Europe, but also existed — the final season in 2021 showed 67.6K viewers, and 51.1K Average Viewers in the summer of 2022. Do not forget that the abnormal number of 85K in the spring season resulted from the changed format.
Most popular teams
The most popular team of the Dota Pro Circuit 2021/2022 season was OG. Its matches accumulated 113.6K viewers on average. Second place went to Team Secret (112K), and third to Nigma Galaxy (110K). Eight teams from Western Europe and two from Eastern Europe entered the top 10 by Average Viewers — Team Spirit (88.3K) and Natus Vincere (86.1K) took the sixth and seventh places respectively.
Curiously, previously NAVI, whose brand is one of the most recognizable and popular in esports, was in the lead position in terms of audience in Eastern Europe. The situation began to change naturally after Team Spirit's victory at The International 2021: this allowed the Russian team to take a slight lead over the Ukrainian club. By the way, by the end of the season, BetBoom Team (73.3K) managed to oust Virtus.pro/Outsiders (64.6K) from the top 3 most popular teams in Eastern Europe.
Most popular teams of DPC 2021/2022 upper divisions
Speaking about the leaders in other regions, Talon Esports' matches had the biggest audience in Southeast Asia (55.4K viewers on average). This was despite the fact that the team played in the first division only in the summer. T1 (50K) and BOOM Esports (48.7K) also entered the top 3. PSG.LGD (30.9K) was more popular in China, while Evil Geniuses (41.5K) and beastcoast (24.2K) were unbeatable in North and South America and well ahead of the other teams in their regions.
Broadcast languages and platforms
English traditionally was the most popular broadcast language during Dota Pro Circuit 2021/2022 — it accumulated 26.4 million Hours Watched (40.6% of the total). Russian came second with 22.3 million Hours Watched (34.3%).
The English and Russian languages far outstripped all other broadcasting languages. So, Spanish took third place generating only 3.8 million Hours Watched (5.8%). Indonesian, Thai and Filipino followed, accounting for about 12.6% of all Hours Watched in total.
Speaking about the distribution of Hours Watched by platforms, the majority of Dota 2 fans followed the season on Twitch — 77.9% of the total Hours Watched. YouTube users accounted for about 12.8%, while Facebook Gaming accounted for 7.2%.
***
The PGL Arlington Major 2022, the second and final major of the Dota Pro Circuit 2021/2022 season, will take place August 4-14 in the USA. 18 teams from six regions will compete for $500K and 4.570 DPC ranking points. After the tournament, we'll find out what teams will receive direct invites to The International 2022.
Detailed Esports data at your fingertips.
Subscribe to & start exploring!
