What a free Arcana does to a community..
The Dota 2 community is a little too hungry for this one. Quite out of the blue, Valve dropped a Swag Bag that gifted all Dota 2 players a month of Dota Plus, Battle Pass Levels, and an Arcana of choice - all for FREEEE. That was enough to drive the whole community berserk. And for the first time since 2019, Dota 2's concurrent players skyrocketed above 900,000.
Source: Steam Charts
Dota 2 pubs flooded following the Swag Bag release
On October 27th, Valve released the Swag Bag containing 3 free gifts. All players that have played at least 10 games throughout the 2022 Battle Pass season receive 30 days of Dota Plus, a free Level 1 Battle Pass (24 Levels if already owned), and a free Arcana of your choice. The first two freebies are amazing enough, but getting your hands on an exclusive Arcana of your choice.. for free? Any average Dota 2 player would drool.
Players can choose any Arcana that are available in the Dota 2 store. This comprises Arcanas for the Ogre Magi, Rubick, Pudge, Juggernaut, Monkey King, Zeus, Crystal Maiden, Phantom Assassin, Shadow Fiend, Techies, Terrorblade, Legion Commander, and Lina.
After Swag Bag's release, Dota 2 had been in a constant jam as players flooded in to grab their free Arcanas. Tons of players received the 'Claim Failed' prompt as the Dota client attempts to process the sudden burst of players.
According to STRATZ, a massive rise is recorded in every region's match queue. North America records the highest influx with +56% more matches queued, followed by Southeast Asia at +41% and South America at +34%.
The player influx was so big that Dota 2 reached more than 920,000 concurrent players - a feat last seen almost 4 years ago.
In May 2019, Valve dropped the yearly Battle Pass and the month accumulated 997,000 peak players. Now thanks to the free Arcana, Dota 2 managed to reach the 900K milestone once again. But it is not quite over. Will the Swag Bag and the free Arcana drive Dota 2's concurrent players to a million?? We are definitely close.
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