New Collector’s Cache reminds players what Valve really thinks about Dota 2

More and more, Valve killing The International Battle Pass has the look of a grift on Dota 2 players and professionals more than anything else, and the return of the Collector’s Cache is just the latest demonstration of this.

In 2023, Valve killed off the TI Battle Pass in unceremonious fashion. In June, just a few months before the tournament, the company announced that it had decided to simply not do go through with it that year. The move was undoubtedly a devastating blow to the pro scene, considering Valve had created a system in which the biggest paycheck of the year that existed in Dota 2 was The International, and nothing else came remotely close.

The value proposition for more casual players was that, with The International Battle Pass gone, the developers of Dota 2 could provide players with a more steady churn of in-game content. That has proven to be untrue, as Valve has failed to deliver on that promise since.

The International Battle Pass lives on, but not in a good way

When Valve first announced the end of The International Battle Pass, it broke down its plans for casual players. The post-TI Battle Pass plan breakdown was as follows:

“…we’re building a wide variety of features and content for the game, delivered in different ways. We’ll still ship a range of cosmetics over the year, but we’re also going to ship more diverse updates for all Dota players to enjoy,” Valve said in a statement.

More than two years have passed since that statement was first made, and none of it has actually happened. The “wide variety of features and content” hasn’t arrived, nor have the “more diverse updates.” In fact, it’s been very much the opposite.

Since then, only three major in-game events have arrived in Dota 2: Frostivus 2023, Frostivus 2024, and Crownfall.

Image credit: Valve

Both Frostivus events were, effectively, standard fare. There were snowballs and a new chest, but little to distinguish the events from prior years besides the fact that there was no longer a TI battle pass preceding it. The only real addition was bolting on a crafting system, similar to what players had already seen in previous events.

While Crownfall was a long-running event and at least offered more than a Collector’s Cache for Dota 2 players, it was ultimately little more than four cavern crawls with above-average rewards. The only thing that set it apart from other events was the various mini-games included in it. While these were varied and interesting, a Flappy Bird reskin isn’t a substitute for two years of content.

Crownfall was undoubtedly popular with Dota 2 players, but that had as much to do with the game’s players being starved for new content as it did the actual quality of Crownfall. This still wasn’t the value Valve had promised following the ending of the TI battle pass.

Dota 2 is Valve’s new Team Fortress 2

Valve once again has the look of a video game publisher. While that’s good news for players who are excited about Deadlock’s official release and those who have been clamoring for Half-Life 3 for 20 years, it seemingly comes at the expense of Dota 2 players. The only part of Valve’s discussion regarding the death of the TI Battle Pass that has actually proven true is Valve’s willingness to deliver new skins, which the new Collector’s Cache is just the latest evidence of.

That lack of substantive updates combined, with the consistent delivery of skins, is reminiscent of classic Valve title Team Fortress 2. While it’s still early to make an exact comparison between how Valve handles these two beloved titles, it’s a comparison that’s seemingly growing more appropriate by the month as Valve continues to fail to live up its own promises to players.

Featured image credit: Valve