Valve engineers have introduced an interesting experimental feature in the latest Dota 2 update that's designed to cut down on the input lag some players notice when playing with the game's vertical sync (VSync) graphics feature switched on.
In a post on the Dota 2 dev forums brought to our attention by NeoGAF, Valve's Jay Stelly explains that the new feature "will attempt to schedule simulation and rendering to coincide with the start of the new frame on your monitor," ideally preventing the game from delaying frame rendering (and causing slight but noticeable lag) in order to sync up with a monitor's refresh rate.
This seems intriguing because Dota 2 is one of the most lucrative eSports on the planet to play, and thus every action in a high-level competitive match is that much more valuable.
Changes that affect the speed at which players can see and respond to those actions have outsized consequences, and studying how Valve deals with those consequences can inform how other developers approach the business of running successful eSports.
Stelly goes on to note that this experimental feature "requires a PC that can maintain a framerate higher than your [monitor's] refresh rate," and that Valve will add it into the proper Dota 2 menu as an option (you currently have to enable it via in-game console command) if it proves a success among players.