Always seemingly impervious to change, the DOTA 2 player base is finally showing its first signs of dwindling. This week DOTA 2 hit its lowest number of active players since 2014, dropping as low as 214,155. Still, a hugely impressive figure, no doubt, and DOTA 2 remains the second most popular game on Steam behind PlayerUnknown’s Battlegrounds.

It’s the impact of PUBG that is probably having the largest effect on DOTA 2’s active player base, its meteoric rise has to be caused by a displacement from other games. Over five of the last seven months, since PUBG launched, the average DOTA 2 player count has dipped, taking its deepest tumble yet on Tuesday evening to just north of 214K.

The numbers tell their own tale, but it’s hard to ascertain whether this is a larger problem for DOTA 2’s waning popularity, or whether this is just a minor blip as players try out the next big thing.

DOTA 2 really peaked in March 2016, amassing its highest ever concurrent player counter of 1.29 million, averaging 672,000 players online at any point. Since then it’s been a gradual decline, although it’s still firmly one of the most popular games in the world right now, particularly from an eSports perspective - the DOTA 2 Invitational continues to grow in both spectacle and prize funds, year in, year out.

What are your thoughts on the recent dip in DOTA 2’s popularity? Do you think gamers are growing bored with the MOBA, or is this just a temporary decline caused by PUBG’s incredible success? Let us know your thoughts!