Dota 2 Patch Release Date Officially Announced

Fans have spent much of 2023 waiting for the next Dota 2 patch release. After a new patch involving a brand new hero, Muerta, was announced at The International 2022, it seems everyone has been highly anticipating the patch. Patches and game updates play a huge part in keeping Dota so popular.

Official Announcement from Valve - Dota 2 Patch Release Date

The official announcement comes in the form of a blog post from Valve in the wake of leaked information. They did bury the lead in information about the Lima Major, however.

In the short post, Vale confirmed the changes for the Lima Major. They include a support club sale, fantasy player cards and right at the very end, confirmed the next Dota 2 patch release date as March 6th 2023.

That means the patch will come exactly 1 day after the end of the Major. It goes without saying that releasing a huge patch right before a tournament would really affect the pro team’s performance and potentially, the popularity of the event. It makes sense for Valve to delay it.

https://twitter.com/DOTA2/status/1627777413844451328

History of Post TI and Major Patches

There is a good reason for fans to expect a brand new patch in the wake of Tundra’s win at TI11. Dota has a very long history of predictable releases after a major tournament and it seems that the Lima Major will be no different:

TI2 (2012): The first major patch released after a TI was the "Three Spirits" update with a late Dota 2 patch release date of November 2013. This update introduced two new heroes, Ember Spirit and Earth Spirit. It included a major rework of the game's visuals and user interface.

TI3 (2013): This update was released in December 2013, adding a new game mode and several new heroes, including Legion Commander and Ember Spirit.

TI4 (2014): The "New Bloom" update was released in February 2015. It added game modes and introduced the new hero Winter Wyvern.

TI5 (2015): This update was released in March 2016, which introduced several new items, reworked heroes, and revamped the game's matchmaking system.

TI6 (2016): This major update was released in December 2016. It added the new hero Monkey King, as well as several new features like talent trees and backpacks.

TI7 (2017): The "Duelling Fates" update was released in November 2017, adding Pangolier and Dark Willow. There is where new game mode, "Turbo Mode" came in.

TI8 (2018): August 2018 was the next update which added a new hero, Grimstroke. It made significant changes to the game's matchmaking.

TI9 (2019): The "Outlanders" update was released in November 2019. This one added two new heroes, Void Spirit and Snapfire. Furthermore, a number of gameplay changes, including the addition of neutral items.

TI10 (2021): Introduced patch 7.31d. It included new hero Primal Beast, rewrote the book on neutral creeps and added brand new items.

Continued Tradition - next patch

It’s not common for fans to have to wait this long. However, the wait is almost over! While Valve has conspicuously failed to include any specific details, it seems safe to say that there are going to be some big changes. There are just a couple of weeks left until fans will be playing brand new hero Muerta!