Anticipation turned to dismay for Dota 2 fans as Valve’s highly awaited 10-Year Anniversary patch fell flat amidst high expectations. The community members were primed for a huge celebration and extravagant events, only to find out they would just receive “commemorative treasures” for winning matches until Sept. 7.
The treasure chests, which feature 13 items, could have been a nice addition if they were paired with a celebratory event, but Valve’s blog featured nothing else.
Upon reading the short and overly punned blog post, Dota 2 fans quickly began expressing their frustration on community forums, calling the game’s big milestone update a “joke” and a “disappointment.”
What made matters worse was the 10-year anniversary update was actually delayed, making players think Valve was cooking up something exciting. With the delay ending with 13 cosmetic items, Valve’s commitment to Dota 2 and the community has been questioned once again.
Earlier in 2023, Valve announced it would scrap the battle pass system, the main source of content and crowdfunding for The International. The devs promised the switch would make way for more changes, but eyebrows remain raised.
Not only do the fears for potential content draughts continue, but professional Dota 2 players are also likely to be hit with a prize pool deflation since the lack of a battle pass is expected to hurt TI’s crowdfunding process.
Related: No battle pass for Dota 2 in 2023 as Valve starts work on ‘something new‘
With less than two months to go, Valve’s yet to kick off TI12 crowdfunding, leaving fans wondering whether the game will have record-breaking prize pools again.
