Dota 2 now has a surrender option, but only if you do this

Dota 2 finally has a surrender option, but there’s a catch to it.

Valve shipped a major update for Dota 2 on July 6, but it wasn’t a balance patch. A massive overhaul to matchmaking has been implemented that overhauls the experience for those who play in parties. This is exclusively available to full parties of five players, so those who solo queue will have to continue suffering through games long after they’ve been decided.

“We think Dota is best played as a group with friends. To encourage this style of play we’re introducing a few experimental changes with the patch today to improve overall match quality for these kinds of games,” the update reads.

Alongside the addition of a surrender option, matchmaking has been tweaked to improve queue times. Ranked matchmaking has exclusively matched full parties against each other in recent months but that will no longer be the case as “full parties are now permitted to match against any valid opposing team.” 

How to surrender in Dota 2

Players in a full party can surrender by typing “gg” in all-chat after 30 minutes. After typing “gg,” a timer will pop up to allow players on the surrendering team to cancel this. This feature has been available in private lobbies for some time now, but hasn’t ever been used in official matchmaking.

Only players in a full party can surrender. Those who are in a smaller party cannot initiate a surrender vote and will be forced to play the game out to its conclusion. Though games can be decided much sooner than 30 minutes, this should still make for a massive improvement to the game experience.

A surrender option has long been a point of contention within the Dota 2 fan base. Though surrendering is a normal part of almost every other major MOBA in existence, it hasn’t been a part of Dota 2 at any point. Fans have been divided over whether this is to the game’s benefit or whether it contributes to the game’s toxicity.

The addition of a surrender option is labeled as an “experimental” change, so it may not be around to stay. This is still a huge change that could one day lead to a surrender option in all games.