Valve has a big surprise in store for fans, but it might have just let it slip early.
The last Dota 2 update included a series of secret files that were discovered and subsequently discussed on Reddit. Data miners sifted through them and found a few interesting tidbits, particularly a line that reads “Event_ID_Diretide_2020.” This has many believing that the classic Halloween game mode is set to return to Dota 2.
No other information could be found, but this isn’t the only hint that Diretide will be coming in the near future.
Back in July, Valve did an artistic Call to Arms for autumn and Halloween-themed skins for an unknown event. It wasn’t explicitly stated that this was for DIretide, but Dota 2 personality Wykhrm Reddy used the jack o’lantern model from previous Diretide events in his announcement.
Fall 2020 Call to Arms — https://t.co/aCxuAvVXi7 #Dota2 pic.twitter.com/ytcYBRRJf9
— Wykrhm Reddy (@wykrhm) July 31, 2020
Diretide was one of the most popular seasonal events of Dota 2’s early years. First introduced in 2012, a game of Diretide was broken up into multiple parts. These parts included stealing candy from one another, then defending that own candy from a roaming Roshan, and finally battling Roshan in a climactic battle.
The game mode was a source of overwhelming controversy in 2013 when Valve inexplicably chose not to bring it back. This resulted in a tidal wave of fans pleading “Volvo giff diretide,” something that went so viral it garnered the attention of auto manufacturer Volvo. The event returned almost exactly the same as it did in 2012, but disappeared completely from there.
There is no word on what a Diretide event in 2020 might look like. Enduring events such as New Bloom have been reimagined as little more than consumable items when they once included limited-time game modes. It is possible that Valve will dust off the old game mode, but it is also possible that Diretide 2020 could just be some reskinned soccer balls and high-fives from the TI10 Battle Pass.
Exact details should come in October.
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