Dota 2 is a multiplayer online battle arena (MOBA)
video game developed and published by Valve
Corporation. 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 the original Defense of the Ancients mod, was
hired by Valve to create a modernized remake for them in the Source game engine. It was officially released
for Microsoft Windows, OS X, and Linux-based personal
computers via the digital distribution platform Steam in
July 2013, following a Windows-only open beta phase
that began two years prior. As the game is fully free-to-play with
no heroes or other gameplay elements needing to be bought or otherwise
unlocked, revenue is made instead from microtransactions such
as loot boxes,
and a battle pass subscription system called Dota Plus, which
all only offer non-gameplay altering virtual goods in
return, such as hero cosmetics and voice-line packs. The game has also been
updated with various other features since release, such as a port to the Source 2engine
and virtual reality support.
Dota 2 has a large esports scene,
with teams from across 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 held every year that award qualification
points for getting a direct invitation to The International, the premier tournament
of the game with a prize pool usually totaling over US$20 million. Media
coverage of most Dota 2tournaments 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 matches to a
live audience in arenas and stadiums, broadcasts of them are also streamed live 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. Since
its release, it has been one of the most played games on Steam, 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.
Valve have also developed two other games featuring the setting of Dota
2. The first, Artifact, is a 2018 digital collectible card game, while the
second, Dota Underlords, is a 2019 chess-like game
derived from Dota Auto Chess, a popular
community-created mod from within the game. 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.
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