Arguably the highlight of the year for any Dota 2 fan is the Battle Pass, which is stuffed full of rewards and challenges all in the name of generating obscene amounts of money for the prize pool of that year’s The International. However, 2022’s Dota 2 Battle Pass is getting a significant amount of stick from fans of the MOBA due to several missing features compared to last year’s pass and for being incredibly grindy.
Take one look at the r/dota2 subreddit right now, and you will see several highly-upvoted posts from disgruntled players complaining about the state of the 2022 Battle Pass.
One Dota 2 player highlights just how harsh the levelling system is in this year’s pass, claiming they played 17 matches and completed various other in-game activities since the Battle Pass launched on September 1, only to find they progressed a mere two levels. “The [Faceless Void] Arcana is at level 495,” they say. “So given the rate of 0.5 levels per day, it would take like over 900 days to get the [Faceless Void] Arcana.”
Another post simply asks to “rename the Battle Pass the Pay Pass” for how difficult it is to progress through gameplay alone.
It’s not just the grind that players aren’t happy with – it’s the lack of returning features too. This Reddit user has compiled a list of everything missing from the Battle Pass compared to previous iterations, which includes the likes of Rylai’s roulette-style spin wheel and being able to wager before matches.
Despite all of this disgruntlement, the Dota 2 TI11 Battle Pass is generating a lot of cash for both the tournament’s prize pool and Valve itself.
Last year’s Battle Pass smashed records to generate a prize pool of $40 million. The 2022 Battle Pass could well beat it again, as the prize pool for The International 11 is already at more than $9 million.
While it’s never an easy (or cheap) feat to climb the hundreds of levels in the Dota 2 Battle Pass, the 2022 edition does appear to be more challenging and less rewarding than previous years. While it hasn’t affected the amount of revenue it’s making, it wouldn’t be surprising to see Valve make a change soon.