a 2 is a free-to-play multiplayer online battle arena (MOBA) video game develope

d and published by Valve Corporation. The game is the stand-alone sequel to Defe
nse of the Ancients (DotA), a mod for the 2002 video game Warcraft III: Reign of
Chaos and its expansion pack, The Frozen Throne. Dota 2 was released for Micros
oft Windows, OS X, and Linux in July 2013, following a Windows-only public beta
testing phase that began in 2011, and is one of the most actively played games o
n Steam, with maximum peaks of over a million concurrent players.
Dota 2 is played in matches between two five-player teams, each of which occupie
s a stronghold in a corner of the playing field. A team wins by destroying the o
ther side's "Ancient" building, located within the opposing stronghold. Each pla
yer controls one of 111 playable "Hero" characters that feature unique powers an
d styles of play. During a match, the player collects gold, items, and experienc
e points for their Hero, while combating Heroes of the opposite team.
Development of Dota 2 began in 2009 when IceFrog, one of the lead designers of t
he original DotA mod, was hired by Valve. Dota 2 was praised by critics for its
gameplay, production quality, and faithfulness to its predecessor, despite being
criticized for its steep learning curve. Dota 2 utilized the original Source ga
me engine until it was ported to Source 2 in September 2015, making it the first
game to use it.
Dota 2 has a widespread and active competitive eSports scene, with teams from ac
ross the world playing in various leagues and tournaments. The largest of the pr
ofessional tournaments is known as The International, which is hosted by Valve a
nd takes place annually at the KeyArena in Seattle. The 2015 edition of The Inte
rnational set a record for having the largest prize pool in eSports history, tot
aling over $18 million. Starting in 2015, Valve also began sponsoring smaller, b
ut seasonally held tournaments known as the Majors, the first of which was held
in Frankfurt, Germany.
Contents [hide]
1
Gameplay
2
Development
2.1
Origins
2.2
Design
2.3
Documentary
3
Release
3.1
Transition to Source 2
4
Professional competition
5
Reception
5.1
Pre-release
5.2
Post-release
5.3
Awards and accolades
5.4
Merchandise
6
See also
7
References
8
External links
Gameplay
A game of Dota 2 in progress
Dota 2 is a multiplayer online battle arena (MOBA) game set in a three-dimension
al (3D) graphical environment, presented from an oblique high-angle perspective.
Two five-player teams, referred to as the Radiant and Dire, compete in matches
on an asymmetrical playing field. Each player commands one of 111 "Hero" charact
ers, which each feature unique abilities and styles of play.[1] At the start of
a match, all Heroes have an experience level of one: they level up, and become m
ore powerful, by accumulating experience points through combat. Whenever a Hero
gains a level, the player may unlock a new ability for them, or enhance their st
atistics. Each Hero's method of combat is influenced by its primary "attribute":
Strength, Agility or Intelligence.[2]
The Radiant and Dire occupy strongholds in opposite corners of the playing field
, divided by a river. Within each base is a critical structure called the "Ancie
nt", along with a fountain that regenerates Heroes' health and magic points. A m

atch ends when one side breaches the other's stronghold and destroys the Ancient
therein. The two strongholds are connected by three paths, referred to as "lane
s", which are guarded by defensive towers and computer-controlled creatures call
ed "creeps". These creatures periodically spawn in groups and travel along the l
anes to attack enemy Heroes, creeps and buildings.[3] Also present are "neutral
creeps" hostile to both Radiant and Dire, the most powerful of which is "Roshan"
, a respawning boss that may be killed by either side to obtain an item that all
ows a one-time resurrection by whoever that holds it.[4]
During a match, the player receives a small, continuous stream of gold, which ar
e spent on items that provide powers and stat enhancements to their Hero. Gold i
s also obtained by destroying enemy structures, killing creeps, and slaying Hero
es. Only the Hero that lands the killing blow on a creep obtains gold from it, a
n act called "last hitting", but all nearby allies receive gold when an enemy He
ro dies. Players may "deny" their opponents full gold and experience by destroyi
ng allied units and structures.[5]
Dota 2 often features seasonal events that present players with themed game mode
s, which do not follow the game's standard rules,[6] including the Halloween-the
med Diretide event,[7] the Christmas-themed Frostivus event,[8] and the New Bloo
m Festival, which celebrated the coming of spring.[9] For Halloween 2015, a Team
Fortress 2-esque "capture point" game mode was released, titled "Colosseum".[10
] The move to Source 2 also saw the addition of community-created custom game mo
des, with the more popular ones having dedicated server hosting by Valve.[11] In
March 2016, Valve introduced the "Custom Game Pass" option to custom game modes
, which allows content creators to add exclusive features, content, and other ch
anges.[12]
In an upcoming update, Dota 2 will support spectating a game in virtual reality
(VR), powered by SteamVR.[13]
Development
Origins
The Dota series began in 2003 with Defense of the Ancients (DotA) a mod for Blizza
rd Entertainment's Warcraft III: Reign of Chaos created by the pseudonymous design
er "Eul".[14] An expansion pack for Warcraft III, entitled The Frozen Throne, wa
s released later that year; and a series of DotA clone mods for the new game com
peted for popularity. DotA: Allstars by Steve Feak was the most successful,[15]
and Feak, with his friend Steve Mescon, created the official DotA community webs
ite dota-allstars.com and the holding company DotA-Allstars, LLC.[16] When Feak
retired from DotA: Allstars in 2005, a friend, under the pseudonym "IceFrog", be
came its lead designer.[17] The popularity of DotA increased significantly: it b
ecame one of the most popular mods in the world, and, by 2008, a prominent eSpor
ts title.[18] IceFrog and Mescon had a falling out in May 2009, which prompted t
he former to establish a new community website at playdota.com.[19]
Valve's interest in the Defense of the Ancients property began when several vete
ran employees, including Team Fortress designer Robin Walker, became fans of the
mod and attempted to play it competitively. The company corresponded with IceFr
og by email about his long-term plans for the project,[20] which culminated with
his being hired to direct a sequel.[21] IceFrog first announced his new positio
n through his blog in October 2009,[22] and Dota 2 was unveiled by Game Informer
on October 13, 2010.[23] The resultant surge of traffic crashed Game Informer's
servers.[24]
Valve adopted the word "Dota", derived from the original mod's acronym, as the n
ame for its newly acquired franchise. Producer Erik Johnson argued that this wor
d refers to a concept and is not an acronym.[21] Shortly after the announcement
of Dota 2, Valve filed a trademark claim to the Dota name.[25] At Gamescom 2011,
company head Gabe Newell explained that the trademark was needed to develop a s
equel with the already-identifiable brand.[26] Holding the Dota name to be a com
munity asset, Feak and Mescon filed an opposing trademark for "DOTA" on behalf o
f DotA-Allstars, LLC (then a subsidiary of Riot Games) in August 2010.[16] Rob P
ardo, the executive vice president of Blizzard Entertainment, similarly stated t
hat the DotA name belonged to the mod's community. Blizzard acquired DotA-Allsta
rs, LLC from Riot Games and filed an opposition against Valve in November 2011,

citing Blizzard's ownership of both the Warcraft III World Editor and DotA-Allst
ars, LLC as proper claims to the franchise.[27][27] The dispute was settled on M
ay 11, 2012: Valve retained commercial franchising rights to the "Dota" brand, b
ut non-commercial use of the name by third-parties was allowed.[28]
Design
An early goal of the Dota 2 team was the adaptation of DotA's aesthetic style fo
r the Source engine.[23] The Radiant and Dire factions replaced the Sentinel and
Scourge, respectively, from the mod. The appearances of each side's Heroes were
adjusted to be more individualized, with less traits specific to either faction
. Character names, abilities, items and map design from DotA were largely retain
ed. A matchmaking feature was added to pit players of equal skill against one an
other, alongside unranked "practice" matches playable alone or with other human
players or AI bots. In the first questions-and-answers session regarding Dota 2,
IceFrog explained that the game would build upon the mod without making signifi
cant changes to its core.[21] Valve contracted major contributors from the DotA
community including Eul and artist Kendrick Lim to assist with the sequel.[29] The c
omposer of Warcraft III, Jason Hayes, was hired to collaborate with Tim Larkin i
n the creation of Dota 2's soundtrack.[30] According to IceFrog, contributions f
rom sources beyond Valve would be sought regularly for Dota 2, so as to continue
DotA's tradition of community-sourced development.[31]
The Source engine was updated with new features to accommodate Dota 2, such as h
igh-end cloth modeling and improved global lighting.[23] The game features Steam
integration, which provides its social component and Cloud storage for personal
files and settings. In November 2013, Valve introduced a coaching system, which
allows experienced players to tutor newer players with special in-game tools.[3
2] As in previous Valve titles, players may spectate live matches of Dota 2,[32]
and local area network (LAN) multiplayer support (added in September 2013) allo
ws for local competitions.[33][34] Support for tournaments was added in June 201
2. These events may be spectated via the purchase of tickets from the "Dota Stor
e", which give players access to both live and completed matches. Ticket fees ar
e apportioned in part to tournament organizers. Groups of players that frequentl
y play together are recognized as teams automatically, and the game matches them
accordingly.[35]
As part of a plan to develop Dota 2 into a social network, Newell announced in A
pril 2012 that the game would be free-to-play, and that community contributions
would be a cornerstone feature.[36] That June, the Dota 2 team confirmed that th
e full roster of Heroes and items would remain available without charge.[37] Ins
tead, income is generated through the Dota Store, which offers for purchase excl
usively cosmetic virtual goods, such as in-game clothing and music.[38] Until th
e game's release, players were able to purchase an early access bundle, which in
cluded a digital copy of Dota 2 and several cosmetic items.[39] Cosmetics create
d by Valve and the community (through the Steam Workshop) are both available. Th
is model was fashioned after that of Team Fortress 2, which had earned the desig
ners of cosmetic items $3.5 million by June 2011.[37] Custom music packs replaci
ng the default soundtrack have also been created, including ones by notable arti
sts such as electronic music artist deadmau5, Taiwanese songwriter JJ Lin, and v
ideo game composers Chance Thomas, Jeremy Soule, and Lennie Moore.[40][41][42] I
n January 2014, Newell revealed that the average Steam Workshop contributor to D
ota 2 made approximately $15,000 from their creations the previous year.[43]
Documentary
Main article: Free to Play (film)
Valve documented the lives and stories of three professional DotA players Benedict
"Hyhy" Lim, Danil "Dendi" Ishutin, and Clinton "Fear" Loomis leading up to Dota 2
's public unveiling. In August 2012, GameTrailers announced that Valve was devel
oping this material into a documentary film.[44] Throughout June 2013, Valve con
ducted private screenings of the film with small groups outside the company. Whe
n an invitation was leaked by Kotaku, Valve's vice president of marketing, Doug
Lombardi, confirmed that the documentary was in development and revealed its nam
e as Free to Play.[45] The documentary was released on March 19, 2014, and was d
istributed through outlets including Steam, iTunes and YouTube.[46]

Release
After being tested extensively by Valve, Dota 2 was first unveiled to the public
at The International's first event at Gamescom 2011. To coincide with this even
t, Valve began sending out beta testing invitations; the first few invites were
sent out shortly after Gamescom.[47] During the event, Newell speculated that Do
ta 2 would likely ship in 2012, despite original plans for a full release in lat
e 2011.[48] On September 23, 2011, Valve scrapped its previous development and r
elease plans, which would have kept the game in its closed beta phase for over a
year. The new plans, which IceFrog revealed via an online announcement, were to
begin beta testing as soon as possible and to implement the remaining Heroes af
terward. Simultaneously, Valve announced that the non-disclosure agreement for t
he beta was being lifted, allowing testers to discuss the game and their experie
nces publicly.[49] After nearly two years of beta testing, Dota 2 was officially
released on July 9, 2013, with three million players already active.[50][51][52
] Two months following the game's release, Newell claimed that updates to Dota 2
generated up to three percent global internet traffic.[53] On December 16, 2013
, the final restrictions against unlimited global access to Dota 2 were lifted a
fter the game's infrastructure and servers were substantially bolstered.[54]
In order to abide by the standards set by the economic legislation of specific c
ountries, Valve opted to contract with nationally-based developers for publishin
g. On October 19, 2012, the leading Beijing-based video game publisher, Perfect
World, announced the acquisition of the exclusive rights to publish and distribu
te Dota 2 in China.[55] On November 9, 2012, a similar deal was made with the To
kyo-based publisher Nexon to distribute and market the game in South Korea and J
apan.[56] In November 2015, Nexon announced they would no longer be operating se
rvers for Dota 2, allowing Valve to take over direct distribution and marketing
of the game in South Korea and Japan.[57]
Transition to Source 2
On June 12, 2015, Valve announced that the entirety of Dota 2 would be ported ov
er to the Source 2 engine, in an opt-in beta update titled Dota 2 Reborn. The up
date included a new user interface framework design, ability for custom game mod
es, and the full replacement of the original Source game engine with Source 2, m
aking Dota 2 the first game to utilize the engine. The beta was released to the
public on June 17, 2015.[58] On September 9, 2015, Reborn was officially impleme
nted, fully replacing the original game client.[59] Largely attributed to techni
cal difficulties players experienced with the new engine, the global player base
experienced a sharp drop of approximately sixteen percent the month following t
he release of Reborn.[60] After various updates and patches, over a million conc
urrent players were playing again in January 2016, with that being the largest a
mount of users since March 2015.[61] The move to Source 2 also allowed the use o
f the Vulkan graphics API, which was released as an opt-in feature on May 23, 20
16.[62]
Professional competition
A crowd watches as the grand finals of The International 2012 commences in Benar
oya Hall, Seattle, Washington
To ensure that enough DotA players would take up Dota 2 and showcase the game's
capabilities, Valve sponsored sixteen accomplished DotA teams to compete at The
International, a Dota 2 specific tournament, for a one million dollar prize in 2
011.[63] The International became an annual championship tournament in 2012, wit
h the venue changing to Seattle, Washington.[64] In its third year, The Internat
ional enhanced its prize pool through interactive compendium sales to over $2.8
million, reclaiming its previous title as having the largest prize pool in eSpor
ts history from the League of Legends Season 2 World Championship.[65][66] Since
then, each annual tournament of The International has broken the previous one's
prize pool record, with the fourth iteration of the tournament raising over $10
.9 million, exceeding the prizes pools of the Super Bowl, the Masters Tournament
and Tour de France.[67] At The International 2015, the prize pool exceeded $18.
4 million, earning the champion team, Evil Geniuses, over $6 million.[68][69]
Following the inaugural event of The International, several electronic sports to

urnaments began to transition from DotA to Dota 2, including the Electronic Spor
ts World Cup.[70] DreamHack would also support Dota 2 in 2011, following a year
without support for the original, on account of the other multiplayer online bat
tle arena titles Heroes of Newerth and League of Legends.[71] By the end of its
first year in its beta phase, Dota 2 was one of the highest-paying eSport titles
of 2011, second only to StarCraft II.[72] Dota 2 began as an official title for
the World Cyber Games annual event in 2012.[73] The Electronic Sports League be
gan a seasonal tournament for Dota 2 called the RaidCall EMS One in 2013, which
was the largest independent tournament for Dota 2 by the beginning of 2013.[74]
Beginning in September 2013, the Association of China E-sports began a Dota 2 to
urnament called the WPC ACE Dota 2 League, which had the largest grand prize by
a third-party in electronic sports history and the largest prize pool for Dota 2
beyond The International.[75] On June 12, 2013, at the Electronic Entertainment
Expo, Nexon announced the investment of two billion South Korean won, (approxim
ately 1.7 million USD), into amateur and professional leagues in South Korea for
2013, to coincide with the launch of their distribution agreement in the fall o
f that year.[76] Modeled after the interactive compendium for The International,
Valve introduced a compendium third-party tournament organizers could sell, beg
inning with the The ASUS ROG DreamLeague in February 2014.[77] In 2015, the Dota
2 Asia Championships was held in Shanghai, China with a then-record third-party
prize pool of over $3 million, raised through compendium sales.[78]
Also starting in 2015, Valve began sponsoring smaller, but seasonally held tourn
aments with a fixed prize pool, known as the Majors. The format for the Majors a
re based on the series of tournaments by the same name that Valve also sponsors
for their first-person shooter, Counter-Strike: Global Offensive. The first of w
hich, hosted and produced by the Electronic Sports League, was the Frankfurt Maj
or held from November 13 21, 2015, at the Festhalle Frankfurt in Frankfurt, German
y.[79] The next Major was held at the Mercedes-Benz Arena in Shanghai from March
2 6, 2016.[80] The third and final Major of the 2015 2016 season was held at the Ma
ll of Asia Arena in Manila from June 7 12, 2016.[81]
Reception
Reception
Aggregate score
Aggregator
Score
Metacritic
90/100[82]
Review scores
Publication
Score
Destructoid
9.5/10[83]
Edge
9/10[84]
Eurogamer
9/10[85]
Game Informer 9/10[5]
GameSpot
9/10[86]
IGN
9.4/10[87]
PC Gamer (US) 90/100[88]
VideoGamer.com 9/10[89]
Awards
Publication
Award
IGN
People's Choice Award 2011[90]
Best PC Strategy & Tactics Game[91]
Best PC Multiplayer Game[92]
PC Gamer
E-Sport of the year[93]
GameTrailers
Best PC Game[94]
onGamers
Esports Game of the Year 2013[95]
Game Informer Best PC Exclusive[96]
Best Competitive Multiplayer[96]
Best Strategy[96]
Pre-release
PC Gamer previewed Dota 2 in September 2012, stating the game was "an unbelievab
ly deep and complex game that offers the purest sequel to the original DotA. Rew
arding like few others, but tough", giving it a rating of 85/100.[97] In May 201

3, Dota 2 reached almost 330,000 concurrent players[98] and held the record for
the game with the most concurrent users in Steam history, breaking its own recor
d set in March the same year.[99] Simultaneous with this benchmark, it was deter
mined that the concurrent number of Dota 2 players in May 2013 outweighed the nu
mber of players for the rest of Steam's top ten most-played games combined.[100]
In February 2015, Dota 2 became the first game in Steam's history to have over
one million concurrent players.[101][102]
Post-release
Dota 2 was well received by critics. On aggregate review website Metacritic, the
game maintains a weighted score of 90 out of 100, based on 31 reviews.[82] Adam
Biessener, the editor who authored the reveal piece for Dota 2 for Game Informe
r magazine in 2010, praised Valve for maintaining the same mechanics and game ba
lance that made Defense of the Ancients successful nearly a decade prior[5] and
Quintin Smith of Eurogamer described Dota 2 as the "supreme form of the MOBA whi
ch everyone else working in the genre is trying to capture like lightning in a b
ottle".[85] In September 2013, Dota 2 had 500,000 concurrent players.[103] In Fe
bruary 2015, Dota 2 became the first game on Steam to have over one million conc
urrent players.[104]
The most frequently praised aspects of the game were its depth, delivery, and ov
erall balance. In Chris Thursten of PC Gamer's review, he described the gameplay
as being "deep and rewarding".[88] Martin Gaston of GameSpot complimented Valve
for the delivery and artistic design of Dota 2, citing the execution of the use
r interface design, voice acting and characterization as exceeding those of the
game's competitors.[86] Phill Cameron of IGN praised Dota 2 for its freely-avail
able game balance that is not affected by cosmetic items.[87]
While the majority of reviewers gave Dota 2 highly positive reviews, a common cr
iticism was that the game maintains a steep learning curve that requires excepti
onal commitment to overcome. While providing a moderately positive review that p
raised Valve's product stability, Fredrik slund from the Swedish division of Game
reactor described his first match of Dota 2 as one of the most humiliating and i
nhospitable experiences of his gaming career, citing the learning curve and play
ers' attitudes as unwelcoming.[105] Benjamin Danneberg of GameStar alluded to th
e learning curve as a "learning cliff", calling the newcomer's experience to be
painful, with the tutorial feature new to the Dota franchise only being partiall
y successful.[106] In a review for the Metro newspaper, Dota 2 was criticized fo
r not compensating for the flaws with the learning curve from DotA, as well as t
he sometimes hostile community, as is often the case for multiplayer online batt
le arena games.[107]
Awards and accolades
Following its first public showing, Dota 2 won IGN's People's Choice Award.[90]
In December 2012, PC Gamer listed Dota 2 as a nominee for the 2012 Game of the Y
ear award, as well as the best electronic sports title of the year.[108] The gam
e won 2013 eSport of the year awards from PC Gamer[93] and onGamers.[95] GameTra
ilers awarded the game the award for Best PC Game of 2013.[94] For IGN's Best of
2013 award series, Dota 2 won the awards for Best PC Strategy & Tactics Game, a
s well as Best PC Multiplayer Game. The game's awards for IGN's Best of 2013 won
their People's Choice Award counterparts, as well.[91][92] Similarly, Game Info
rmer recognized Dota 2 for the categories of Best PC Exclusive, Best Competitive
Multiplayer and Best Strategy of 2013.[96] In the 2013 edition of Game Revoluti
on's countdown of the top twenty-five PC video games of all time, Dota 2 was lis
ted in the number four position.[109] Dota 2 was nominated for a number of Game
of the Year awards by Destructoid, including the award for the best competitive
game. While the staff selected StarCraft II: Heart of the Swarm, Dota 2 received
the majority of the votes distributed between the nine nominees.[110] In 2014,
Dota 2 was nominated for best multiplayer game at the 10th British Academy Video
Games Awards, but lost to Grand Theft Auto V.[111] In 2015, Dota 2 was nominate
d for eSports Game of the Year at The Game Awards 2015, and won the award for be
st MOBA at the 2015 Global Game Awards.[112][113]
Merchandise
The popularity of Dota 2 led Valve to produce apparel, accessories, posters, and

a number of other products featuring the Heroes and other elements from the gam
e. In addition, Valve secured licensing contracts with third-party producers; th
e first of these deals concerned a Dota 2 SteelSeries QcK+ mousepad, which was a
nnounced at Gamescom 2011.[114] On September 25, 2012, Weta Workshop, the studio
that developed the custom "Aegis of Champions" trophy for the winners of The In
ternational 2012, announced a prop product line that would include statues, weap
ons, and armor based on Dota 2 characters.[115] On February 10, 2013, the Nation
al Entertainment Collectibles Association announced a new toy line featuring Her
o-themed action figures at the American International Toy Fair.[116]
See also
List of video games derived from modifications
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ber 7, 2013. Nowadays games like Dota and League Of Legends are described as MOB
As, which stands for multiplayer online battle arena
a laughably unhelpful term
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