Will there be a Dota 2 Battle Pass for TI 2023?

Dota 2, over the past several years, has been the home of an extravagant Battle Pass for its biggest esports event, The International (TI). However, it seems like Valve has decided to walk away from this system for TI 2023.

Battle Passes in Dota 2 are very common and are a key piece of microtransaction that has existed for a long time now. Every year right before TI, Valve used to release a massive Battle Pass.

The Battle Pass featured skins, weather effects, music packs, and, above all, exclusive Arcanas. If you did not want to feel left out, your only option was to buy these Battle Passes and then spend money to obtain the exclusive cosmetic items.

However, it seems like Valve does not want to continue with this route anymore and instead wants to change the way content has been handled up until now.

Is there going to be a Dota 2 TI 2023 Battle Pass?

The answer to whether Valve will release a brand new Battle Pass for TI 2023 is no. This is because Valve seems to have assessed their work for the past several years and they feel that Battle Passes are not worth it anymore.

The first time they tried to test this theory was back in 2022 when they gave away the TI Battle Pass for free alongside an Arcana. The player base skyrocketed and Dota 2 hit a million active players for the first time in several years.

This showed that most people do not want to buy Battle Passes. Instead, they just want content worth enjoying. Valve tested this theory once again with the New Frontiers update and patch 7.33.

As Valve expected, players loved those, and that is something that the company feels should be the road to the future. The developers have reached the conclusion that most players do not care about Battle Passes and instead want gameplay improvements, UI development, and other meaningful features.

However, the fact that Valve has been way too focused on making Battle Passes has prevented the company from making meaningful content that is long lasting. Hence, in 2023, the developers will put less emphasis on Battle Pass-based content in exchange for things that will help to maintain a healthy player base.

What does this mean for the TI 2023 prize pool?

It is a well-known fact that the Battle Pass for TI is what fuels the extravagant prize pool for the tournament. However, Valve dropping the Battle Pass is bound to raise a few eyebrows, especially for professional players.

Valve has not yet stated what this means for TI 2023’s prize pool, though its blog post notes that the “update will still contribute directly to the prize pool.” However, the focus will be on the event, the players and the games.

This also means that Valve might be looking to bring back old cosmetics from previous Battle Passes. This is because the Blog Post clearly states that “new cosmetics will not play a notable part”. This does not stop Valve from releasing old cosmetics for new and returning players, which would still make a lot of money for the company.

Unfortunately, this is all that we know so far. We will update this section with more details once Valve makes it clear how the community will contribute to the TI 2023 prize pool. Until then, please check out our esports page for more updates on Dota 2 and other titles.