When it comes to rolling out updates and patches, Valve has always been infamous for not following any fixed schedule when it comes to DOTA 2.
Unlike other developers like Riot Games for Valorant and League of Legends and Epic Games for Fortnite, Valve has never set any update schedule for DOTA 2.
Similarly, the developers also maintain a fair bit of secrecy when it comes to new hero releases.
Does Valve have a fixed cycle for releasing new heroes in DOTA 2?
Unfortunately, Valve has never followed a fixed cycle or schedule for hero releases. More often than not, hero releases in DOTA 2 come as a surprise to the community. Here's a look at the release of all the new heroes in and after DOTA 2 Reborn (Update 7.00):
- Monkey King - Update 7.00 - 12 December 2016
- Dark Willow - Update 7.07 - 31 October 2017
- Pangolier - Update 7.07 - #1 October 2017
- Grimstroke - Update 7.19 - August 24 2018
- Mars - Update 7.21c - 5 March 2019
- Snapfire - Update 7.23 - 26 November 2019
- Void Spirit - Update 7.23 - 26 November 2019
- Hoodwink - Update 7.28 - 17 December 2020
- Dawnbreaker - Update 7.29 - 9 April 2021
As you can see, despite releasing three new heroes in 2019, Valve only managed to come up with one hero release in 2020, and that too in the last month of the year.
This clearly goes to show how irregular Valve can be when it comes to new hero releases in DOTA 2.
Having said that, the last announcement from Valve regarding new heroes in DOTA 2 was made in October 2020. The announcement confirmed that DOTA 2 players will receive two new heroes within the first quarter of 2021 and the developers did deliver Hoodwink and Dawnbreaker as a part of their promise.
However, there have been no revelations from the developers regarding the possibility of another new hero being introduced to the game any time soon. Having said that, judging by the track record of Valve, the release of a new hero in update 7.30 won't be a massive surprise for the community.
Read More: DOTA 2 7.30: Release Date, Expected Changes, Leaks, And More