Dota 2
Dota 2
Immortal Treasure 3 arrives in TI10 Battle Pass, date extended
Steven Rondina
At long last, the Immortal Treasure 3 has arrived in The International 10 Battle Pass. The long-awaited loot crate is the last major component of the TI10 Battle Pass with the 2020 Trove Carafe likely cancelled. Fans have been clamoring for the item for weeks, with Valve slow to deliver due to struggles with its development output. The Immortal Treasure 3 includes common treasures for Lich, Oracle, Clockwerk, Pugna, Treant …
Dota 2
Fnatic splits with iceiceice, drops eyyou after just one week
Steven Rondina
The massive roster shuffle that’s sweeping China’s Dota 2 secene has seemingly reached the shores of the Southeast Asia region. Fnatic has announced a major change to its Dota 2 roster, splitting from Daryl Koh “iceiceice” Pei Xiang after two years due to the expiration of his contract. With that change, Fnatic is also dropping newly added captain Nico “eyyou” Barcelon after just one week. As part of our Dota …
Dota 2
New Chinese all-star team formed by PUBG org Four Angry Men
Fariha Bhatti
After months of speculation, Chinese organization Four Angry Men has finally revealed its star-studded Dota 2 roster. The organization best known for its PlayerUnknown’s Battlegrounds team has been at the center of rumors since announcing its plans to expand into Dota 2 in early June. The roster includes former Vici Gaming players Zhang “Eurus” Chengjun and Zhou “Yang” Haiyang, former PSG.LGD captain Xu “fy” Linsen and mid laner Lu “Somnus” …
Dota 2
Team Empire reveals new roster for BTS Pro Series Season 3
Fariha Bhatti
Team Empire has officially pulled the plug on its “promote the academy roster” experiment. The organization announced a new roster that would see it part ways with offlaner and captain Alexey “Mastery” Vinchevskiy and support Dzhama “jAMES” Abdurashitov, while former carry Alexey “Smiling Knight” Sviridov has been temporarily benched. Support players Sergey “Ecnart” Slobodyanyk and mid laner Alexander “lightless” Potapenko are the only remaining members of the previous roster. lightless …
Dota 2
Live Dota 2 events are back with China’s Dota 2 Pro Cup
Steven Rondina
The first live Dota 2 events since the cancellation of the Dota Pro Circuit have been revealed. The China Dota 2 Pro Cup will feature 10 top Chinese teams battling for a prize pool worth approximately $74,000. The event stands out as the first Dota 2 event to take place in a LAN setting since March. Eight teams will be invited to the event, with the current list standing as …
Dota 2
Ex-Alliance players 33 and Fata form new team in BTS Pro Series
Steven Rondina
A new contender has been revealed in the European region. The BTS Pro Series Season 3 Europe and CIS event is set to feature a number of familiar faces including Ninjas in Pyjamas, B8, and Vikin.gg. Also listed is a new team named mudgolems, a squad made up of a number of proven veterans. The lineup listed for BTS Pro Series stands as follows: Oliver “skiter” Lepko Duško “BoraNija” Boranijaševic …
Dota 2
Fnatic drops Jabz, adds ex-TNC eyyou due to iceiceice hiatus
Steven Rondina
Fnatic’s Dota 2 team has had possibly the most successful year in its history, but the global shuffle is forcing some changes. Support player Anucha “Jabz” Jirawong is officially out of the Fnatic roster. Replacing him is former TNC Predator Nico “eyyou” Barcelon, who is coming off a yearlong hiatus from competitive Dota 2. Jabz being replaced by eyyou follows the addition of Marc Polo Luis “Raven” Fausto in July …
Dota 2
TI champion Fear announces hiatus from competitive Dota 2
gabhernandez
Business Associates is set to continue without its in-game leader. Clinton “Fear” Loomis’ took to twitter to address rumors of his departure from the current lineup of Business Associates. BA’s hard support player and in-game leader Fear’s tweet was a reply to fans questioning his absence in the BTS Pro Series Americas Season 3 lineup. Three players from BA were seen playing the match along with two new additions in …
TI10 prize pool hits $36 million, pads record for largest esports prize pool ever
Steven Rondina
Dota 2
The International 10 continues to add to its prize pool, and it’s hard to imagine any other esports event matching its incredible sum. The TI10 prize pool has officially surpassed the $36 million mark, piling more money onto the record-breaking amount. This follows the launch of Windranger’s Compass of the Rising Gale arcana skin, the fifth and final premium skin exclusive to players with highly leveled TI10 Battle Passes. 36. …
Team Secret runs through OG, wins Omega League EU Immortal division
Steven Rondina
Dota 2
Team Secret has won the Omega League Europe Immortal division, an event that will likely go down as the largest Dota 2 tournament of 2020. Entering Omega League as the consensus best team in the world, Secret lived up to that billing with an almost flawless run through the event that saw them drop just two maps along the way. Secret locked up the $200,000 top prize with a 3-0 …
Geek Fam cuts Dota 2 team due to cancellation of DPC, Raven leaving
Fariha Bhatti
Dota 2
Only a few days after Reality Rift ceased operations, another Southeast Asian organization has released its Dota 2 team. Geek Fam announced that the organization has released its roster due to the cancelation of the 2019-20 Dota Pro Circuit. “With the cancelling of Dota 2 Minor and Major tournaments of the season due to safety concerns, it is very difficult for us to continue with the indefinite delay for TI10 …
Was the return of Diretide just leaked in latest Dota 2 update?
Steven Rondina
Dota 2
Valve has a big surprise in store for fans, but it might have just let it slip early. The last Dota 2 update included a series of secret files that were discovered and subsequently discussed on Reddit. Data miners sifted through them and found a few interesting tidbits, particularly a line that reads “Event_ID_Diretide_2020.” This has many believing that the classic Halloween game mode is set to return to Dota …
Valve has a new proposed date, location for The International 10
Steven Rondina
Dota 2
The International 10 has been left in limbo for a long while, but Valve has a rough idea of when the event might actually happen. As part of a larger update regarding the future of the Dota 2 pro scene and the return of the Dota Pro Circuit, Valve gave an estimate regarding when and where The International 10 might take place. The news of TI10 still taking place in …
Windranger arcana arrives in TI10 Battle Pass, players love it
Steven Rondina
Dota 2
The International 10 Battle Pass has seen its last premium limited edition skin arrive, and it’s a good one. The Compass of the Rising Gale arcana for Windranger has launched in Dota 2. This was the last of the five premium limited edition skins available for owners of high-level battle passes. The official Dota 2 blog gives an interesting lore explanation of the skin, discussing how Windranger isn’t actually a …
Valve gives update on TI10 being canceled, how DPC will return
Steven Rondina
Dota 2
Dota 2 is in the worst place it ever has been, and Valve is finally willing to talk about it. Valve released a blog post entitled “Update on Competitive Scene” that provided more information on the indefinite postponement of The International 10, the cancellation of the Dota Pro Circuit, and the future of the competitive scene. Though it does little to answer the fan outcry that has become increasingly loud …
Bloodseeker surges after zai’s epic Omega League performance
Steven Rondina
Dota 2
Team Secret is a trendsetter in Dota 2 and fans have gotten a great example of that over the last couple of weeks. During the Omega League Europe Immortal group stage, Ludwig “zai” Wåhlberg raised eyebrows by locking in Bloodseeker. The hero has been struggling for relevance since being reworked in version 7.27b, but that didn’t stop zai from using him twice as Secret scored quick victories over OG. Dota …
Omega League Americas division sees match fixing accusations
Steven Rondina
Dota 2
Match fixing is one of the biggest problems facing the Dota 2 pro scene right now, and it’s showing no signs of slowing down. The Omega League Americas Ancient division is nearing its conclusion and one of the finalists is being accused of a number of shady dealings. A Redditor compiled a list of accusations against xixihaha, the team set to play against business associates in the finals of the …
Team Secret vs. Evil Geniuses Omega League playoffs betting analysis
Nina Forneloza
Dota 2
Team Secret and Evil Geniuses will face off in the upper bracket in the OMEGA League playoffs. It’s a matchup that hasn’t been seen since January at the DreamLeague Season 12 major, and it’s one fans ought to look forward to. Both teams looked rock solid in the group stage, so who will prevail here? Team Secret has consistently proven that it is the strongest Dota 2 team in the …
Team Nigma vs. OG OMEGA League playoffs betting analysis
Nina Forneloza
Dota 2
Team Nigma and OG will kick off the upper bracket matches in OMEGA League Europe Immortal playoffs. The biggest Dota 2 event of the summer has boasted top teams competing prize money at stake. With just seven teams remaining, things are about to heat up even more. Team Nigma started strong in OMEGA League despite playing without its captain, Kuro “KuroKy” Salehi Takhasomi, taking the top seed in the group …
Bot TI3 rules are changed as bot games will be played live
Steven Rondina
Dota 2
Bot TI3 is going to be a good deal different from previous installments in the series. Beyond the Summit’s Dakota “KotLGuy” Cox announced some of the changes set to come to Bot TI3 in a thread on Reddit. The event will feature a slew of tweaks relative to Bot TI2 based on the radical changes to Dota 2 that came in late 2019 with the Outlanders Update. The biggest change …
Few games have proven to have the resilient popularity enjoyed by Dota 2. The multiplayer online battle arena, or MOBA for short, has been among the biggest and most successful projects released by gaming giant Valve, and it continues to enjoy great popularity to this day.
That popularity has endured despite a great number of changes that have been made to both the game itself and to the communities surrounding it. The competitive title’s history reaches all the way back to another game created and published by another developer, but with Valve now leading the way, Dota 2 seems primed to last well into the future.
From Blizzard to Valve, Dota 2 continues to evolve
While know today as one of Valve’s key game properties, Dota 2 has its origins in a real-time strategy game developed and published by famed video game company Blizzard. One of the franchises that keyed Blizzard’s success and reputational growth in the games industry is WarCraft, which today is best-known for the popular massively multiplayer online role-playing game (MMORPG) World of Warcraft.
But prior to the success of World of Warcraft, the high-fantasy franchise was experienced through a series of RTS games. The third main title in that series, WarCraft 3, provided players not only with a great experience right out of the box, but also with the opportunity to heavily modify the game and its functions, and to play modified versions of the experience as custom games online with other players.
The most popular of these custom game modes was arguably Defense of the Ancients, or DotA for short. This custom game mode saw two teams of players face off against each other with strong individual champion characters, as opposed to building out complex home bases and developing broad armies of diverse units.
It was an entirely different way to play the game, and it proved so popular that would eventually give birth to an entirely new genre of video games: the MOBA genre.
The continuation of the original DotA became Dota 2, a project developed under the guidance of famed developer and publisher Valve. Flush with success from online marketplace Steam and its own franchises including Half-Life and Portal, Valve was more than willing to invest in this new and innovative game type.
The International sets Dota 2 apart
While there have been many other competitive games created and released since, including other popular MOBAs such as Riot Games’ League of Legends, Dota 2 has stood apart for remaining true to its roots and for massive competitive events like The International. First held in 2011 for the purpose of bringing together disparate competitive teams from all around the world with more than $1 million on the line, the esports tournament quickly grew into the biggest such event of each calendar year.
One of the main drivers behind that immense growth was the upwards trajectory of the tournament’s prize pool. Partially funded by Dota 2 players and esports fans, the prize pool for The International began increasing in 2013 and eventually ballooned to a massive total of over $40 million by the time 2021 rolled around. For the groups of players and coaches who climbed this mountain and won its top prize, it was a truly life-changing event.
For varied reasons, Valve eventually soured on running the event itself and on the idea of having so much money filtered into one specific event. Prize winnings were dropped significantly in 2022, and even further for the 2023 and 2024 events. But despite the prizes on hand no longer being quite so astronomical, The International still boasts a prize in the low millions, and it remains the biggest event on the Dota 2 competitive calendar and arguably on the greater esports calendar across all games.
