Dota 2

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Dota 2
Dota 2 (Steam 2019).jpg
Developer(s) Valve
Publisher(s) Valve
Designer(s) IceFrog
Writer(s)
Marc Laidlaw
Ted Kosmatka
Kris Katz
Composer(s)
Jason Hayes
Tim Larkin
Series Dota
Engine Source 2
Platform(s)
Microsoft Windows
Linux
OS X
Release
Windows
July 9, 2013
Linux, OS X
July 18, 2013
Genre(s) MOBA
Mode(s) Multiplayer
Dota 2 is a multiplayer online battle arena (MOBA) video game developed and
published by Valve. 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 and its expansion pack, The Frozen Throne. 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. Each of the ten players independently controls a powerful
character, known as a "hero", who all have unique abilities and differing styles of
play. 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. A
team wins by being the first to destroy the other team's "Ancient", a large
structure located within their base.

Development 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. 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. The game is fully free-to-play with no heroes or any
other gameplay element needing to be bought or otherwise unlocked. 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 has also
been updated with various other features since release, such as a port to the
Source 2 engine and support for virtual reality.

Dota 2 has a large esports scene, with teams from around the world playing in
various professional leagues and tournaments. Valve manages an event format known
as the Dota Pro Circuit, which are a series of tournaments that award qualification
points for earning direct invitations to The International, the game's premier
annual tournament. Internationals feature a crowdfunded prize money system that has
seen amounts in upwards of US$30 million, making Dota 2 the most lucrative esports
game. Media coverage of most tournaments is done by a selection of on-site staff
who provide commentary and analysis for the ongoing matches, similar to traditional
sporting events. In addition to playing live to audiences in arenas and stadiums,
broadcasts of them are also streamed over the internet, and sometimes simulcast on
television networks, with peak viewership numbers in the millions.

Despite some criticism going towards its steep learning curve and overall
complexity, Dota 2 was praised for its rewarding gameplay, production quality, and
faithfulness to its predecessor, with many considering it to be one of the greatest
video games of all time. It has been one of the most played games on Steam since
its release, with over a million concurrent players at its peak. The popularity of
the game has led to official merchandise for it being produced, including apparel,
accessories, and toys, as well as promotional tie-ins to other games and media. The
game also allows for the community to create their own gamemodes, maps, and
cosmetics, which are uploaded to the Steam Workshop. Two spinoff games, Artifact
and Dota Underlords, were also released by Valve. Dota 2 has also been used in
machine learning experiments, with a team of bots known as the OpenAI Five showing
the capability to defeat professional players.

Contents
1 Gameplay
2 Development
2.1 Dota 2 Reborn
3 Release
4 Esports
5 Reception
5.1 Awards
6 Legacy
7 References
8 External links
Gameplay
See also: Mechanics of multiplayer online battle arena games

A game of Dota 2 in progress, showing the Radiant team inside their base at the
beginning of a match
Dota 2 is a multiplayer online battle arena (MOBA) video game in which two teams of
five players compete to collectively destroy a large structure defended by the
opposing team known as the "Ancient", whilst defending their own.[1][2] As in
Defense of the Ancients, the game is controlled using standard real-time strategy
controls, and is presented on a single map in a three-dimensional isometric
perspective.[1][3] Ten players each control one of the game's 119 playable
characters, known as "heroes", with each having their own design, strengths, and
weaknesses.[1][2][4] Heroes are divided into two primary roles, known as the core
and support.[5][6]

Cores, which are also called carries, begin each match as weak and vulnerable, but
are able to become more powerful later in the game, thus becoming able to "carry"
their team to victory.[5][7] Supports generally lack abilities that deal heavy
damage, instead having ones with more functionality and utility that provide
assistance for their cores, such as providing healing and other buffs.[5][6][8]
Players select their hero during a pre-game drafting phase, where they can also
discuss potential strategies and hero matchups with their teammates.[2][5][6]
Heroes are removed from the drafting pool and become unavailable for all other
players once one is selected, and can not be changed once the drafting phase is
over. All heroes have a basic attack in addition to powerful abilities, which are
the primary method of fighting. Each hero has at least four of them, all of which
are unique.[3][8] Heroes begin each game with an experience level of one, only
having access to one of their abilities, but are able to level up and become more
powerful during the course of the game, up to a maximum level of 30.[2][5] Whenever
a hero gains an experience level, the player is able to unlock another of their
abilities or improve one already learned.[2][5] The most powerful ability for each
hero is known as their "ultimate", which requires them to have an experience level
of six in order to use.[6]

In order to prevent abilities from being used without consequence, a magic system
is featured in the game. Activating an ability costs a hero some of their "mana
points", which slowly regenerates over time.[3][9] Using an ability will also cause
it to enter a cooldown period, in which the ability can not be used again until a
timer resets. All heroes have three attributes: strength, intelligence, and
agility, which affect health points, mana points, and attack speed, respectively.
[5] Each hero has one primary attribute out of the three, which adds to their non-
ability basic damage output when increased, among other minor buffs.[5][10] Heroes
also have an ability augmentation system known as the "Talent Tree", which allow
players more choices on how to develop their hero.[5][6] If a hero runs out of
health points and dies, they are removed from active play until a timer counts down
to zero, where they are then respawned in their base with only some gold lost.[11]

The two teams—known as the Radiant and Dire—occupy fortified bases in opposite
corners of the map, which is divided in half by a crossable river and connected by
three paths, which are referred to as "lanes".[1][2] The lanes are guarded by
defensive towers that attack any opposing unit who gets within its line of sight.
[2] A small group of weak computer-controlled creatures called "creeps" travel
predefined paths along the lanes and attempt to attack any opposing heroes, creeps,
and buildings in their way.[2][6][11] Creeps periodically spawn throughout the game
in groups from two buildings, called the "barracks", that exist in each lane and
are located within the team's bases.[2][6][12] The map is also permanently covered
for both teams in fog of war, which prevents a team from seeing the opposing team's
heroes and creeps if they are not directly in sight of themselves or an allied
unit. The map also features a day-night cycle, with some hero abilities and other
game mechanics being altered depending on the time of the cycle.[5] Also present on
the map are "neutral creeps" that are hostile to both teams, and reside in marked
locations on the map known as "camps". Camps are located in the area between the
lanes known as the "jungle", which both sides of the map have.[6][13]

Neutral creeps do not attack unless provoked, and respawn over time if killed. The
most powerful neutral creep is named "Roshan", who is a unique boss that may be
defeated by either team to obtain special items, such as one that allows a one-time
resurrection if the hero that holds it is killed.[2][6][14] Roshan will respawn
around ten minutes after being killed, and becomes progressively harder to kill as
the match progresses over time.[14] Runes, which are special items that spawn in
set positions on the map every few minutes, offer heroes temporary, but powerful
power-ups when collected, such as double damage and invisibility.[5][6]

In addition to having abilities becoming stronger during the game, players are able
to buy items from set locations on the map called shops that provide their own
special abilities.[2][6][14][15] Items are not limited to specific heroes, and can
be bought by anyone. In order to obtain an item, players must be able to afford it
with gold at shops located on the map, which is primarily obtained by killing enemy
heroes, destroying enemy structures, and killing creeps, with the latter being an
act called "farming".[2][5][11] Only the hero that lands the killing blow on a
creep obtains gold from it, an act called "last hitting", but all allies receive a
share of gold when an enemy hero dies close to them.[3][11] Players are also able
to "deny" allied units and structures by last hitting them, which then prevents
their opponents from getting full experience from them.[11][14] Gold can not be
shared between teammates, with each player having their own independent stash.
Players also receive a continuous, but small stream of gold over the course of a
match.[5][16]
Multiple game types in the game exist, which mainly alter the way hero selection is
handled; examples include "All Pick", which offer no restrictions on hero
selection, "All Random", which randomly assigns a hero for each player, "Captain's
Mode", where a single player on each team selects heroes for their entire team and
is primarily used for professional play, and "Turbo", an expedited version of All
Pick featuring increased gold and experience gain, weaker towers, and faster
respawn times.[17][18][19] Matches usually last around 30 minutes to an hour,
although they can last forever as long as both Ancients remain standing.[6][20] In
Captain's Mode games, an additional "GG" forfeit feature is available to end games
early.[21] Dota 2 also occasionally features limited-time events that present
players with alternative game modes that do not follow the game's standard rules.
[22] Some of these included the Halloween-themed Diretide event,[23] the Christmas-
themed Frostivus event,[24] and the New Bloom Festival, which celebrated the coming
of spring.[25] Other special game modes have also been created by Valve, including
a ten-versus-ten mode,[26] a Halloween-themed capture point mode "Colosseum",[27] a
combat arena mode "Overthrow",[28] "Siltbreaker", a story-driven cooperative
campaign mode,[29] and "The Underhollow", a battle royale mode.[30]

The move to the Source 2 engine in 2015 also added the "Arcade" feature, which
allows for community-created game modes, with the more popular ones having
dedicated server hosting by Valve.[31][32] One popular example, known as Dota Auto
Chess, had over seven million in-game subscribers by April 2019.[33][34][35] Due to
its popularity, Valve met with the mod's developers, the Chinese-based Drodo
Studio, to discuss directly collaborating on a standalone version. However, the two
companies were unable to come to an agreement, with them both stating that it was
in their best interest to develop their own separate games.[36] Valve's version,
Dota Underlords, was released in February 2020 and continued to use the Dota
setting,[37] while Drodo's game, Auto Chess, was developed without using any Dota 2
assets.[38][39]

Development
See also: List of video games derived from mods

Defense of the Ancients, the original mod from Warcraft III that Dota 2 was based
on
The Dota series began in 2003 with Defense of the Ancients (DotA)—a mod for
Blizzard Entertainment's Warcraft III: Reign of Chaos—created by the pseudonymous
designer "Eul".[40] An expansion pack for Warcraft III, titled The Frozen Throne,
was released later that year; a series of Defense of the Ancients clone mods for
the new game competed for popularity. DotA: Allstars by Steve Feak was the most
successful,[41] and Feak, with his friend Steve Mescon, created the official
Defense of the Ancients community website and the holding company DotA-Allstars,
LLC.[42] When Feak retired from DotA: Allstars in 2005, a friend, under the
pseudonym IceFrog, became its lead designer.[43] By the late 2000s, Defense of the
Ancients became one of the most popular mods worldwide, as well as a prominent
esports game.[44] IceFrog and Mescon later had a falling out in May 2009, which
prompted the former to establish a new community website at playdota.com.[45]
Valve's interest in the Dota intellectual property began when several veteran
employees, including Team Fortress 2 designer Robin Walker and executive Erik
Johnson, became fans of the mod and wanted to build a modern sequel.[46] The
company corresponded with IceFrog by email about his long-term plans for the
project,[47] and he was subsequently hired to direct a sequel.[48] IceFrog first
announced his new position through his blog in October 2009,[49] with Dota 2 being
officially announced a year later.[50]

Valve adopted the word "Dota", derived from the original mod's acronym, as the name
for its newly acquired franchise. Johnson argued that the word referred to a
concept, and was not an acronym.[48] Shortly after the announcement of Dota 2,
Valve filed a trademark claim to the Dota name.[51] At Gamescom 2011, company
president Gabe Newell explained that the trademark was needed to develop a sequel
with the already-identifiable brand.[52] Holding the Dota name to be a community
asset, Feak and Mescon filed an opposing trademark for Dota on behalf of DotA-
Allstars, LLC (then a subsidiary of Riot Games) in August 2010.[42] Rob Pardo, the
executive vice president of Blizzard Entertainment at the time, similarly stated
that the Dota name belonged to the mod's community. Blizzard acquired DotA-
Allstars, 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-
Allstars, LLC as proper claims to the franchise name.[53] The dispute was settled
in May 2012, with Valve retaining commercial rights to the Dota trademark, while
allowing non-commercial use of the name by third-parties.[54] In 2017, Valve's
ownership of franchise was again challenged, after a 2004 internet forum post from
Eul was brought to light by a Chinese company known as uCool, who had released a
mobile game in 2014 that used characters from the Dota universe.[55] uCool, who was
previously involved in a lawsuit with Blizzard in 2015 for similar reasons,[56]
along with another Chinese company, Lilith Games, argued that the forum post
invalidated any ownership claims of the intellectual property, stating that the
Dota property was an open-source, collective work that could not be copyrighted by
anyone in particular.[55][57] Judge Charles R. Breyer denied uCool's motion for
summary dismissal, with Blizzard filing motions to dismiss all claims against uCool
and Lilith with prejudice.[55][58][59]

An early goal of the Dota 2 team was the adaptation of Defense of the Ancients'
aesthetic style for the Source engine.[50] The Radiant and Dire factions replaced
the Sentinel and Scourge from the mod, respectively. Character names, abilities,
items and map design from the mod were largely retained, with some changes due to
trademarks owned by Blizzard. In the first Q&A session regarding Dota 2, IceFrog
explained that the game would build upon the mod without making significant changes
to its core.[48] Valve contracted major contributors from the Defense of the
Ancients community, including Eul and artist Kendrick Lim, to assist with the
sequel.[60] Additional contributions from sources outside of Valve were also sought
regularly for Dota 2, as to continue Defense of the Ancients' tradition of
community-sourced development.[61] One of the composers of Warcraft III: Reign of
Chaos, Jason Hayes, was hired to collaborate with Tim Larkin to write the original
score for the game, which was conducted by Timothy Williams and performed and
recorded by the Northwest Sinfonia at Bastyr University.[62][63] Valve had Half-
Life series writer Marc Laidlaw, science fiction author Ted Kosmatka, and Steam
support employee Kris Katz write new dialog and background lore for the heroes.[64]
[65] Notable voice actors for heroes include Nolan North, Dave Fennoy, Jon St.
John, Ellen McLain, Fred Tatasciore, Merle Dandridge, Jen Taylor, and John Patrick
Lowrie, among others.[66]

The Source engine itself was updated with new features to accommodate Dota 2, such
as high-end cloth modeling and improved global lighting.[50] The game features
Steam integration, which provides its social component and cloud storage for
personal settings. In November 2013, Valve introduced a coaching system that allows
experienced players to tutor newer players with in-game tools.[67] As with previous
Valve multiplayer games, players are able to spectate live matches of Dota 2 played
by others,[67] and local area network (LAN) multiplayer support allows for local
competitions.[68][69] Some of these events may be spectated via the purchase of
tickets from the "Dota Store", which give players in-game access to matches. Ticket
fees are apportioned in part to tournament organizers.[70] The game also features
an in-game fantasy sports system, which is modeled after traditional fantasy sports
and feature professional Dota 2 players and teams.[71] Players are also able to
spectate games in virtual reality (VR) with up to 15 others, which was added in an
update in July 2016.[72] The update also added a hero showcase mode, which allows
players to see all of the heroes and their cosmetics full-size in virtual reality.
[73]
As part of a plan to develop Dota 2 into a social network, Newell announced in
April 2012 that the game would be free-to-play, and that community contributions
would be a cornerstone feature.[74] Instead, revenue is generated through the "Dota
Store", which offers for-purchase cosmetic virtual goods, such as custom armor and
weapons for their heroes.[75] It was also announced that the full roster of heroes
would be available at launch for free.[76] Until the game's official release in
2013, players were able to purchase an early access bundle, which included a
digital copy of Dota 2 and several cosmetic items.[77] Included as optional
downloadable content (DLC), the Dota 2 Workshop Tools are a set of Source 2
software development kit (SDK) tools that allow content creators to create new hero
cosmetics, as well as custom game modes, maps, and bot scripts.[78][79][80] Highly
rated cosmetics, through the Steam Workshop, are available in the in-game store if
they are accepted by Valve. This model was fashioned after Valve's Team Fortress 2,
which had earned Workshop designers of cosmetic items of that game over $3.5
million by June 2011.[76] Newell revealed that the average Steam Workshop
contributor for Dota 2 and Team Fortess 2 made approximately $15,000 from their
creations in 2013.[81] By 2015, sales of Dota 2 virtual goods had earned Valve over
$238 million in revenue, according to the digital game market research group
SuperData.[82] In 2016, Valve introduced the "Custom Game Pass" option for creators
of custom game modes, which allows them to be funded by way of microtransactions by
adding exclusive features, content, and other changes to their game mode for
players who buy it.[83]

Dota 2 includes a seasonal Elo rating-based matchmaking system, which is measured

by a numerical value known as "matchmaking rating" (MMR) that is tracked separately
for core and support roles, and ranked into different tiers. MMR is updated based
on if a player won or lost, which will then increase or decrease respectively.[84]
The game's servers, known as the "Game Coordinator",[85][86] attempts to balance
both teams based on each player's MMR, with each team having roughly a 50% chance
to win in any given game.[84] Ranked game modes with a separately tracked MMR are
also available, which primarily differ from unranked games by making MMR publicly
visible, as well as requiring the registration of a phone number to their accounts,
which help foster a more competitive environment.[84][87] To ensure that each
player's ranking is up to date and accurate, MMR is recalibrated around every six
months.[88][89] Players with the highest possible medal rank are listed by Valve on
an online leaderboard, separated into North American, European, Southeast Asian,
and Chinese regions.[90] The game also includes a report system, which allows
players to punish player behavior that intentionally provides a negative
experience.[91] Players who get reported enough or leave several games before they
conclude, a practice known as "abandoning", are then placed into low priority
matchmaking, which remains on a player's account until they win a specific number
of games, and only groups them with other players who also have the same
punishment.[92][93] Other features include an improved replay system from Defense
of the Ancients, in which a completed game can be downloaded in-client and viewed
by anyone at a later time, and the "hero builds" feature, which provide integrated
guides created by the community that highlight to the player on how to play their
hero.[94]

Dota 2 Reborn
In June 2015, Valve announced that the entirety of Dota 2 would be ported over to
their Source 2 game engine in an update called Dota 2 Reborn.[95] Reborn was first
released as an opt-in beta update that same month,[96] and officially replaced the
original client in September 2015, making it the first game to use the engine.[97]
Reborn included a new user interface framework design, ability for custom game
modes created by the community, and the full replacement of the original Source
engine with Source 2.[98] Largely attributed to technical difficulties players
experienced with the update, the global player base experienced a sharp drop of
approximately sixteen percent the month following the release of it.[99] However,
after various updates and patches, over a million concurrent players were playing
again by the beginning of 2016, with that number being the largest in nearly a
year.[100] The move to Source 2 also allowed the use of the Vulkan graphics API,
which was released as an optional feature in May 2016, making Dota 2 one of the
first games to use it.[101]

Release

Gamescom 2011 in Cologne, where the game was first made playable to the public
Dota 2 was first made available to the public at Gamescom in 2011, coinciding with
the inaugural International championship, the game's premier esport tournament
event. At the event, Valve began sending out closed beta invitations to DotA
players and attendees for the Microsoft Windows version of the game.[102] Although
the game was originally meant to publicly release in 2012, Valve later scrapped
that plan as it would have kept the game in its closed beta state for over a year.
Due to that, Valve lifted the non-disclosure agreement and transitioned the game
into open beta in September 2011, allowing players to discuss the game and their
experiences publicly.[103][104]

Following nearly two years of beta testing, Dota 2 was officially released on Steam
for Windows on July 9, 2013, and for OS X and Linux on July 18, 2013.[105][106]
[107] The game did not launch with every hero from Defense of the Ancients.
Instead, the missing ones were added in various post-release updates, with the
final one, as well as the first Dota 2 original hero, being added in 2016.[108]
[109] Two months following the game's release, Newell claimed that updates to Dota
2 generated up to three percent of global internet traffic.[110] In December 2013,
the final restrictions against unlimited global access to Dota 2 were lifted after
the game's infrastructure and servers were substantially bolstered.[111] In order
to abide by the standards set by the economic legislation of specific countries,
Valve opted to contract with nationally based developers for publishing. In October
2012, Chinese game publisher Perfect World announced they had received distribution
rights for the game in the country.[112] The Chinese client also has a region-
specific "Low Violence" mode, which censors and changes most depictions of blood,
gore, and skulls in order for the game to follow censorship policies of the
country.[113][114] In November 2012, a similar publishing deal was made with the
South Korea-based game company Nexon to distribute and market the game in the
country, as well as in Japan.[115] Three years later, Nexon announced they would no
longer be operating servers for Dota 2, with Valve taking over direct distribution
and marketing of the game in those regions.[116]

In December 2016, Dota 2 was updated to gameplay version 7.00, also known as "The
New Journey" update.[117][118][119] Prior to the update, the Dota series had been
in version 6.xx for over a decade, marking the first major revision since IceFrog
originally took over development of the original mod in the mid 2000s.[119] The New
Journey update added and changed numerous features and mechanics of the game,
including adding the first original hero not ported over from Defense of the
Ancients, a reworked map, a redesigned HUD, a pre-game phase that allows for
players to discuss their team strategy, and a "Talent Tree" ability augmentation
system.[118][119] In April 2017, Valve announced changes to the game's ranked
matchmaking system, with the main one requiring the registration of a unique phone
number to a player's account in order to play them, an anti-griefing and smurfing
practice they had previously implemented in their first-person shooter game,
Counter-Strike: Global Offensive.[87][120] Further changes to the game's
matchmaking were brought in an update in November 2017, where the old numerical MMR
system was replaced by a seasonal one based on eight ranked tiers that are
recalibrated around every six months, a move that brought the game's ranked system
closer to ones used in other competitive games such as Global Offensive, StarCraft,
and League of Legends.[121][122][123]

For most of 2018, Valve decided to handle gameplay balance updates for the game in
a different way. Instead of releasing larger updates irregularly throughout the
year, smaller ones would be released on a set schedule of every two weeks.[124]
[125] Around the same time, the game also introduced the "Dota Plus" monthly
subscription system that replaced the seasonal battle passes that were released to
coincide with a Major tournament. In addition to offering everything battle passes
previously did, Dota Plus added new features such as a hero-specific achievement
system that reward players who complete them with exclusive cosmetics, as well as
providing hero and game analytics and statistics gathered from thousands of recent
games.[126]

Esports

The largest Dota 2 tournaments often have prize pools totaling millions of dollars.
Shown here is The International 2018, a $25 million tournament hosted at the Rogers
Arena in Vancouver.
To ensure that enough Defense of the Ancients players would take up Dota 2 and to
promote the game to a new audience, Valve invited sixteen accomplished Defense of
the Ancients esports teams to compete at a Dota 2-specific tournament at Gamescom
in August 2011, which later became an annually held event known as The
International.[127] From The International 2013 onward, its prize pool began to be
crowdfunded through a type of in-game battle pass called the "Compendium", which
raises money from players buying them and connected lootboxes to get exclusive in-
game cosmetics and other bonuses offered through them.[128][129] 25% of all the
revenue made from Compendiums go directly to the prize pool, with sales from the
2013 battle pass raising over US$2.8 million, which made it the largest prize pool
in esports history at the time.[130][131] Each iteration of The International since
then has surpassed the previous one's prize pool, with the most recent one, The
International 2019, having one at over $34 million.[132][133]

During its beta phase in the early 2010s, several other esport events would begin
hosting Dota 2 events, including the Electronic Sports World Cup,[134] DreamHack,
[135] World Cyber Games,[136] and ESL.[137] By the end of 2011, Dota 2 was already
one of the highest-paying esport games, second only to StarCraft II.[138] At E3
2013, South Korean company Nexon announced the investment of ₩2 billion
(approximately US$1.7 million) into local leagues in the country, which coincided
with their distribution partnership with Valve for the game.[139] In February 2015,
Valve sponsored Dota 2 Asia Championships was held in Shanghai with a prize pool of
over $3 million, raised through compendium sales.[140][141] Since then, other Dota
2 Asia Championships have taken place, with it being sometimes being referred to as
the "Chinese International".[142][143] In total, professional Dota 2 tournaments
had earned teams and players over $100 million by June 2017, with over half of that
being awarded at Internationals, making it the highest earning esport game by a
margin of nearly $60 million at the time.[144]

As with traditional sporting events, most major Dota 2 events feature pre- and
post-game discussion by a panel of analysts (left), with in-match casting being
done by play-by-play and color commentators (right).
From late 2015 until early 2017, Valve sponsored a series of smaller-scale,
seasonally held tournaments known as the Dota Major Championships, which all had
fixed prize pools of US$3 million.[145][146] Their format was based on the
tournament series of the same name that Valve also sponsored for their first-person
shooter game, Counter-Strike: Global Offensive. Including The International 2016
and 2017, which were considered to be the cumulative Major of their respective
seasons,[145][147] the series had five other events, which were the Frankfurt
Major,[148] Shanghai Major,[149] Manila Major,[150] Boston Major,[151] and Kiev
Major.[152] Following the International 2017, the Majors were replaced with the
Dota Pro Circuit (DPC) format due to criticism by teams and fans for Valve's non-
transparent and unpredictable nature for handing out International invitations.
[153][154][155] In the DPC, teams are awarded qualification points for their
performance in sponsored tournaments, with the top twelve earning direct invites to
that season's International.[156] To avoid conflicting dates with other
tournaments, Valve directly manages the scheduling of them.[155]

The primary medium for professional Dota 2 coverage is through the video game live
streaming platform, Twitch. For most major events, tournament coverage is done by a
selection of dedicated esports organizations and personnel who provide on-site
commentary, analysis, match predictions, and player interviews surrounding the
event in progress, similar to traditional sporting events.[157][158] Live Dota 2
games and coverage have also been simulcast on television networks around the
world, such as ESPN in the United States,[159][160] BBC Three in the United
Kingdom,[161] Sport1 in Germany,[162] TV 2 Zulu in Denmark,[163] Xinwen Lianbo in
China,[164] Astro in Malaysia,[165] and TV5 in the Philippines.[166]

Reception
Reception
Aggregate score
Aggregator Score
Metacritic 90/100[167]
Review scores
Publication Score
Destructoid 9.5/10[168]
Edge 9/10[169]
Eurogamer 9/10[170]
Game Informer 9/10[16]
GameSpot 9/10[171]
IGN 9.4/10[172]
PC Gamer (US) 92/100[174]
Polygon 8.5/10[173]
USgamer 5/5 stars[175]
VideoGamer.com 9/10[176]
Dota 2 received "universal acclaim" according to review aggregator Metacritic,[167]
and has been cited as one of the greatest video games of all time.[177][178][179]
[180] In a preview of the game in 2012, Rich McCormick of PC Gamer thought that
Dota 2 was "an unbelievably deep and complex game that offers the purest sequel to
the original Defense of the Ancients. Rewarding like few others, but tough."[181]
Adam Biessener, the editor who authored the announcement article for Dota 2 for
Game Informer in 2010, praised Valve for maintaining the same mechanics and game
balance that made Defense of the Ancients successful nearly a decade prior[16] and
Quintin Smith of Eurogamer described Dota 2 as the "supreme form of the MOBA which
everyone else working in the genre is trying to capture like lightning in a
bottle".[170] The most frequently praised aspects of the game were its depth,
delivery, and overall balance. Chris Thursten of PC Gamer described the gameplay as
being "deep and rewarding".[174]

Martin Gaston of GameSpot complimented Valve for the artistic design and delivery
of Dota 2, citing the execution of the user interface design, voice acting, and
characterization as exceeding those of the game's competitors.[171] Phill Cameron
of IGN and James Kozanitis of Hardcore Gamer both praised Dota 2 for its free-to-
play business model that was not affected by cosmetic items, with Kozanitis stating
that Dota 2 was "the only game to do free-to-play right".[172][182] Nick Kolan of
IGN also agreed, comparing the game's business model to Valve's Team Fortress 2,
which uses a nearly identical system.[183] Post-release additions to the game were
also praised, such as the addition of virtual reality (VR) support in 2016. Ben
Kuchera of Polygon thought that spectating games in VR was "amazing", comparing it
to being able to watch an American football game on television with the ability to
jump onto the field at any time to see the quarterback's point of view.[184] Chris
Thursten of PC Gamer agreed, calling the experience "incredible" and unlike any
other esports spectating system that existed prior to it.[185] Sam Machkovech of
Ars Technica also praised the addition, believing that the functionality could
"attract serious attention from gamers and non-gamers alike".[186]

While the majority of reviewers gave Dota 2 highly positive reviews, a common
criticism was that the game maintains a steep learning curve that requires
exceptional commitment to overcome. While providing a moderately positive review
that praised Valve's product stability, Fredrik Åslund from the Swedish division of
Gamereactor described his first match of Dota 2 as one of the most humiliating and
inhospitable experiences of his gaming career, citing the learning curve and
players' attitudes as unwelcoming.[187] Benjamin Danneberg of GameStar alluded to
the 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 partially
successful.[188] In a review for the Metro newspaper, Dota 2 was criticized for not
compensating for the flaws with the learning curve from Defense of the Ancients, as
well as the sometimes hostile community, which is commonly criticized in
multiplayer online battle arena games.[189] Peter Bright of Ars Technica also
directed criticism at the ability for third-party websites to allow skin gambling
and betting on match results, similar to controversies that also existed with
Valve's Counter-Strike: Global Offensive.[190] Using Dota 2 as an example, Bright
thought that Valve had built gambling elements directly into their games, and had
issues with the unregulated practice, which he said was often used by underage
players and regions where gambling is illegal.[190] Australian senator Nick
Xenophon had similar sentiment, stating that he wanted to introduce legislation in
his country to minimize underage access to gambling within video games, including
Dota 2.[191] In response to the controversy, Valve and Dota 2 project manager Erik
Johnson stated that they would be taking action against the third-party sites as
the practice was not allowed by their user agreements or API.[192]

Comparisons of Dota 2 to other MOBA games are commonplace, with the mechanics and
business model compared to League of Legends and Heroes of the Storm.[183][193]
[194][195] Contrasting it with League of Legends, T.J. Hafer of PC Gamer called
Dota 2 the "superior experience", stating that he thought the game was "all about
counterplay", with most of the heroes being designed to directly counter another.
[196] Hafer also preferred the way the game handled its hero selection pool, with
all of them being unlocked right from the start, unlike in League of Legends.[196]
Comparing Dota 2 to Heroes of the Storm, Jason Parker of CNET said that while
Heroes of the Storm was easier to get into, the complexities and depth of Dota 2
would be appreciated more by those who put in the time to master it.[197] Further
comparing it to Heroes of Newerth, players from the professional Dota 2 team OG
said that most Heroes of Newerth players were able to transition over easily to the
game, due to the strong similarities that both games share.[198] Similar to other
highly competitive online games, Dota 2 is often considered to have a hostile and
"toxic" community.[199][200][201] In 2019, a report by the Anti-Defamation League
found that up to 79% of the game's playerbase had reported being harassed in some
way while playing it, which topped their list.[202]

Awards
Following its reveal in 2011, Dota 2 won IGN's People's Choice Award.[203] In
December 2012, PC Gamer listed Dota 2 as a nominee for their Game of the Year
award, as well as the best esports game of the year.[204] In 2013, Dota 2 won the
esport game of the year award from PC Gamer[205] and onGamers.[206] GameTrailers
also awarded the game the award for Best PC Game of 2013,[207] with IGN also
awarding it the Best PC Strategy & Tactics Game, Best PC Multiplayer Game, and
People's Choice Award.[208][209] Similarly, Game Informer recognized Dota 2 for the
categories of Best PC Exclusive, Best Competitive Multiplayer and Best Strategy of
2013.[210] The same year, Dota 2 was nominated for several awards by Destructoid.
While the staff selected StarCraft II: Heart of the Swarm, Dota 2 received the
majority of the votes distributed between the nine nominees.[211] Dota 2 was later
nominated for the best multiplayer game at the 10th British Academy Games Awards in
2014, but lost to Grand Theft Auto V,[212] and was nominated for Esports Game of
the Year at The Game Awards at its events from 2015–2019,[213][214][215][216] while
winning the award for best MOBA at the 2015 Global Game Awards.[217] The game was
also nominated for the community created "Love/Hate Relationship" award at the
inaugural Steam Awards in 2016.[218] In the late 2010s, the game was nominated for
Choice Video Game at the 2017 Teen Choice Awards,[219] for Esports Game of the Year
at the Golden Joystick Awards and NAVGTR Awards,[220][221][222][223][224] and as
IGN's best spectator game.[225]