Valve manages an event format known as the Dota Pro Circuit, a series of tournaments that award qualification points for earning direct invitations to The International, the game's premier annual tournament. The game has also been updated with various other features since release, such as a port to the Source 2 engine and virtual reality support.ĭota 2 has a large esports scene, with teams from around the world playing in various professional leagues and tournaments. To maintain it, Valve supports the game as a service, selling loot boxes and a battle pass subscription system called Dota Plus that offer non-gameplay altering virtual goods in return, such as hero cosmetics and audio replacement packs. The game is fully free-to-play with no heroes or any other gameplay element needing to be bought or otherwise unlocked. It was released for Microsoft Windows, OS X, and Linux via the digital distribution platform Steam in July 2013, following a Windows-only open beta phase that began two years prior. A team wins by being the first to destroy the other team's 'Ancient', a large structure located within their base.ĭevelopment of Dota 2 began in 2009 when IceFrog, lead designer of Defense of the Ancients, was hired by Valve to create a modernized remake for them in the Source game engine. During a match players collect experience points and items for their heroes to successfully defeat the opposing team's heroes in player versus player combat. Each of the ten players independently controls a powerful character, known as a 'hero', who all have unique abilities and differing styles of play. Dota 2 is played in matches between two teams of five players, with each team occupying and defending their own separate base on the map.

The game is a sequel to Defense of the Ancients ( DotA), which was a community-created mod for Blizzard Entertainment's Warcraft III: Reign of Chaos.

Dota 2 is a multiplayer online battle arena (MOBA) video game developed and published by Valve.

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