Only a handful of game titles can still keep millions of players engaged years after its release. Valve’s Dota 2 is one of those games. However, in recent years its player numbers slowly went down and in the first days of 2020 reached its lowest point since 2014 January.

According to Steam Charts, the average player count has reached a new low and during December was about 384 179. It might not seem like a big deal since average numbers usually fluctuate, however, December’s peak player count only reached 685 165 which is the lowest average monthly number for Dota 2 since 2013. Early days of January 2020 also doesn’t give a lot of optimism since average numbers are even lower than December’s.

Here’s a full chart of 2019 player count:

So what does this all mean? Is Dota 2 dying? Well, not entirely. Yes, Dota 2 is currently having a hard time trying to keep up with other popular online games, but it’s still a massive hit. Some Dota 2 major esports tournaments might be a temporary fix, but Valve needs to do something not only for the fans of esports but for gamers as well.

The player decline is an early sign which could have a snowball effect in the future. Lower player numbers might mean longer queue times which in turn can result in more players leaving the community. We wouldn’t want that, would we?