Dota 2 to be Free-to-Play, Include Microtransactions
Steam Workshop integration for fan-created items, too.
Valve has announced that Dota 2 will be a free-to-play game - but studio co-founder Gabe Newell was keen to stress that its unveiled Dota Microtransaction Store will not force players to "pay-to-win".
"All items in the store are cosmetic, and don't affect gameplay," Newell revealed in a Dota 2 blog post. Additionally, in a departure from how other free-to-play games have handled microtransactions, Dota 2 will not be charging for individual hero characters. All of them will be free. "We believe restricting player access to heroes could be destructive to game design, so it’s something we plan to avoid."
Dota 2 will also include Steam Workshop integration, the toolset that is currently allowing players to go nuts with awesome Skyrim PC mods.
The design lead on Dota 2 - a chap with the amazing name of IceFrog - chipped in on the announcement. "The opening of the Dota Store is a big part of our final push to launch. With support for the Steam Workshop, the majority of the items made available on day one were created and being sold by members of the community."
But does that mean the game is launching soon? Ah, Valve would not say. But the press release states that it is 'targeted for full release on the PC later this year', so I guess we have to roll with that. Budding players can get in on the action now by purchasing the Dota 2 Early Access Bundle of items, which can be used in the early-access version of the game and can be carried over after public launch.
"All items in the store are cosmetic, and don't affect gameplay," Newell revealed in a Dota 2 blog post. Additionally, in a departure from how other free-to-play games have handled microtransactions, Dota 2 will not be charging for individual hero characters. All of them will be free. "We believe restricting player access to heroes could be destructive to game design, so it’s something we plan to avoid."
Dota 2 will also include Steam Workshop integration, the toolset that is currently allowing players to go nuts with awesome Skyrim PC mods.
The design lead on Dota 2 - a chap with the amazing name of IceFrog - chipped in on the announcement. "The opening of the Dota Store is a big part of our final push to launch. With support for the Steam Workshop, the majority of the items made available on day one were created and being sold by members of the community."
But does that mean the game is launching soon? Ah, Valve would not say. But the press release states that it is 'targeted for full release on the PC later this year', so I guess we have to roll with that. Budding players can get in on the action now by purchasing the Dota 2 Early Access Bundle of items, which can be used in the early-access version of the game and can be carried over after public launch.
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