Team Secret’s team manager has suggested that April 20 is the date the next Dota 2 patch will drop.
We might finally have a date for the next Dota 2 patch, as Team Secret team manager Matt “Cyborgmatt” Bailey posts leaks from Berlin Major qualified teams. Ever a champion of transparency and beacon of insight, Cyborgmatt’s tweets give us the first concrete date for Valve’s next addition to Dota 2. According to him - “early afternoon (PST) on Thursday, April 20.”
The date falls just six days before the start of the Berlin Major, and in the midst of the DPC Div II and DreamLeague Season 19. The timing means it will land just after Group Stage 2 of the million dollar DreamLeague tournament, and on the very day that Div II teams start Week 3 of their season.
What’s more, the leak seems to suggest that this is a huge update, leading some, including Cyborgmatt’s own organization to speculate whether this is in fact not the 7.33 update, but the 8.00 Dota 2 patch!
Is this the 8.00 Gameplay Update?
As per the leaked messages, sent to Berlin Major qualified teams, Valve said the following "We wanted to provide advance warning that it's SIGNIFICANTLY LARGER than a normal gameplay patch."
This revelation has already led to the rumor that it’s not the much anticipated 7.33 update, but instead a much larger 8.00 update. If this is true, this would be the first time Dota 2 has rolled over from a full patch iteration since 2016, and would represent a significant new release.
For reference, the 7.00 patch, entitled The New Journey update, added Talents, Monkey King, a new HUD, the current pre-game screen, huge map changes, and more.
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Are 6 days enough to acclimate to a new Dota 2 patch?
According to the leak, “Patch drops next week.” April 20 to be exact. This means just days for Berlin Major qualified teams to acclimatize to the new patch.
Stats swami Ben “Noxville” Steenhuisen chimed in with a point that many of us may have been thinking, but not saying out loud: “it's shocking that we expect to see teams competing reasonably 6 days after a patch comes out.”
He makes a good point. While the instant retort from many is a desire for entertainment and chaos, the obvious counter is that, as Noxville says “you don't need patches to create chaos or entertainment.” Just look at the Lima Major, where on one of the most stagnant patches in recent memory we saw a shock win from Gaimin Gladiators.
If a tournament changed its rules six days before an event, or altered the venue or the format, there would be uproar. But because we’re conditioned to world of video games, we seem to accept massive changes to the game we play are expected to act like they don’t affect competitive integrity or performance. And if you're saying “well that’s the whole point!” Then why do you want teams to perform worse because of something out of their control?
Stay tuned to esports.gg for more Dota 2 news and updates, and all the info on the patch when it drops!
