As of right now, it appears that the market only has room for two truly successful MOBAs. Riot Games’ League of Legends has been taking both the casual and core scenes by storm. This free-to-play title has more active players than even World of Warcraft, and while some issues with the actual “professionals” have caused a few hiccups, it’s difficult to deny the game’s global success. However, the second game vying for a similar slice of the pie is Valve’s Dota 2. The sequel to the mod that started the genre is the greatest competition to League of Legends, and the game hasn’t even managed to exit beta.
That’s going to change this summer, though, according to Valve's VP of marketing Doug Lombardi. The executive has let GameSpot know that Dota 2 will see a full, official release in North America and Europe this summer for the PC. For players, fans, and broadcasters, that's exciting news.
"Dota 2 being officially released to the public acts as the next step for Valve in shipping the finished Dota 2 project," said David "GoDZ" Parker, Dota 2 broadcaster for The BTS Studio. "While anyone interested in obtaining a beta key and playing the game could have already done so with minimal work, having the ease of play that being public brings will make it a true free-to-play game in the ARTS/MOBA genre."
The game has been in beta since September 13, 2011, forcing players to receive an invite before being able to actually play. However, all that hassle will end when Dota 2 becomes available before this year's The International 3 competition, held August 7-11 at Benaroya Hall in Seattle. Valve says that more details will be revealed in the coming weeks, so stay tuned.
