Dota 2 is a 2013 multiplayer online battle arena (MOBA) video game by Valve. The game is a sequel to Defense of the Ancients (DotA), a community-created mod for Blizzard Entertainment’s Warcraft III: Reign of Chaos. 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» that all have unique abilities and differing styles of play. During a match players collect experience points and items for their heroes to 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.
Dota 2 has a large esports scene, with teams from around the world playing in various professional leagues and tournaments. Valve organizes 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 tournament held annually. Internationals feature a crowdfunded prize money system that has seen amounts in upwards of 40 million, making Dota 2 the most lucrative esport. 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, with several million in viewership numbers.
Despite 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 merchandise and media adaptations, including comic books and an anime series, as well as promotional tie-ins to other games and media. The game 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 released by Valve. Dota 2 has been used in machine learning experiments, with a team of bots known as the OpenAI Five showing the capability to defeat professional players.
Gameplay
A game of Dota 2 in progress, showing the Radiant team inside their base at the beginning of a match
Development
Defense of the Ancients, the original mod from Warcraft III that Dota 2 was based on
Dota 2 Reborn
Gamescom 2011 in Cologne, where the game was first made playable to the public
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.
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).
Reception
A fan cosplaying as Juggernaut, one of the game’s 123 playable characters
The Aegis of Champions, awarded to International winners
Notes
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Dota 2 — многопользовательская командная компьютерная игра в жанре MOBA, разработанная и изданная корпорацией Valve. Игра является продолжением DotA — пользовательской карты-модификации для игры Warcraft III: Reign of Chaos и дополнения к ней Warcraft III: The Frozen Throne. Игра изображает сражение на карте особого вида; в каждом матче участвуют две команды по пять игроков, управляющих разными «героями» — персонажами с различными наборами способностей и характеристиками. Для победы в матче команда должна уничтожить особый объект — «крепость», принадлежащий вражеской стороне, и защитить от уничтожения собственную «крепость». Dota 2 работает по модели free-to-play с элементами микроплатежей.
