Published
BETBOOM TEAM Dota 2 coach Anatolii Boolk Ivanov said he believes the game is becoming more popular in the CIS. Ivanov shared the view in an interview with OFFSTAGE, describing a regional picture shaped by the prominence of Russian-speaking players and by results that viewers can closely identify with. His comments arrive alongside a notable The International 2026 outcome: for the first time in the tournament series, the top four consisted entirely of teams from Russia.
Ivanov presented his assessment as a personal view rather than a universal measurement of Dota 2’s position. He said he may not be fully objective because he is based in the region and travels to tournaments there, rather than living in Europe. Still, he argued that CIS viewers increasingly see successful Russian-speaking players wherever they look in the scene. In his view, that visibility makes the game feel closer to the audience, both because the players are succeeding and because they are culturally familiar to viewers. The coach’s point was not that every region is experiencing the same trend. Instead, he drew a clear distinction between his confidence in the CIS and his concerns about the game’s reach elsewhere.
TI 2026 result gives the comments context
The International 2026 supplied a concrete tournament backdrop to Ivanov’s regional argument. The event was the first in The International series in which only teams from Russia reached the top four. That confirmed bracket development does not prove a change in audience size by itself, but it helps explain why a coach working with a CIS team would focus on the region’s visibility at the highest level of competition. A top four made up solely of Russian teams placed those representatives at the center of the tournament’s late stages.
Ivanov also connected his view of the CIS audience to an earlier landmark in Dota 2 competition. He said Team Spirit’s victory at the tenth International gave the game an enormous boost in popularity in the region, and he sees the direction since then as upward. The statement is his interpretation of the regional trend, not a reported audience figure. Its significance is that he identified a specific competitive success as the moment that strengthened the link between major tournament achievement and local interest. In that framing, the TI 2026 top-four composition is another high-profile example of CIS-linked teams receiving exceptional exposure in a decisive phase of an International.
Boolk separates CIS optimism from global concerns
While Ivanov was confident about the CIS, he did not describe the broader international scene in the same terms. He said he has noticed fewer teams from different regions and even fewer players from those areas. He pointed to the Chinese The International, where he said there were no Chinese players left in the playoffs, as a troubling sign. Ivanov said he understands arguments that Dota 2 is dying or losing popularity, but does not agree with them. He also allowed that his viewpoint could be biased and that a current downturn could later reverse. That qualification is important: his claim concerns his reading of the CIS environment, not a definitive declaration about Dota 2 worldwide.
- Ivanov linked the CIS trend he sees to the boost he believes followed Team Spirit’s victory at the tenth International.
- At The International 2026, the top four featured only teams from Russia for the first time in the series’ history.
| Area of Ivanov’s assessment | Supported detail from the interview |
|---|---|
| CIS | Ivanov said Russian-speaking players are highly visible and that their success feels closer to viewers in the region. |
| Outside the CIS | Ivanov said he sees fewer teams and players from other regions, while acknowledging his own perspective may be limited. |
Ivanov’s assessment presents rising Dota 2 popularity in the CIS as his opinion. The available reporting does not provide broader audience or participation data to measure that trend.
EN — English
RU — Русский
Comments (0)