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Dota 2 fans have been wondering when the next big patch is going to drop for several months now, considering they have been playing on a version of 7.22 since May.
The 7.23 update is on its way and will likely bring with it a ton of important changes to the meta, more matchmaking fixes, and some extra content that will satisfy the player base. But when exactly is that patch going to drop?
There can be anywhere from three to 20 minor updates to the client, but when it comes to a significant patch, the dates have meaning. Based on the past releases of each significant, numbered update added to Dota 2 over the last year, Patch 7.23 and the Outlanders update will likely be live before Nov. 28. This would be less than a week after the MDL Chengdu Major concludes, and Valve likes to drop updates a few days after a tournament ends.
In less than two weeks, the first Dota Pro Circuit event, the Dota Summit 11 Minor will begin, which means that this update wouldn’t be happening until at least the conclusion of that tournament on Nov. 10. Simply put, Valve does not like pushing big updates that change very significant aspects of the game around large tournaments because that fundamentally changes how teams play.
Likewise, there is only a five-day break between Dota Summit 11 and MDL Chengdu, so that basically eliminates the possibility of 7.23 dropping early in the month.
Last season, Valve had ample time to drop a smaller patch between a Minor and Major event because the dates were multiple weeks apart, but this season has seen a consolidated schedule to keep things moving faster. That limits the updates that can be made between big events outside of those minor fixes.
In all likelihood, that 7.23 patch will include the Outlanders Update, which means two new heroes, Snapfire and Void Spirit will be added to the game. That is a lot to dump into a character-centric game like Dota at the start of the competitive season, so timing it right after the first Major makes a lot of sense.
