Valve to develop Defense of the Ancients 2

Ryan Wilsey 13 Oct, 2010 at 1:51pm ET Article published in Gaming

Valve has brought us plenty of goodies in our gaming careers, but for RTS and RPG fans, this may very well take the cake. Valve has just announced Defense of the Ancients 2 (DOTA2), the sequel to the fan-favorite DOTA. They are working with IceFrog, creator of the DotA-Allstars mod and now employee at Valve.

There are precious few details to be had at the moment, which is typical of Valve. What we do know is that the game will be coming to both PC and Mac in 2011. Valve is promising “to take the unique blend of online RTS and RPG action that has made DotA popular with tens of millions of gamers and expand upon it in every way.”

According to Gameinformer.com, the sequel will take the best of DotA 1 and expand on it. DotA-Allstars’ roster of 100+ heroes is being brought over in its entirety, as are item and skill trees. New additions include AI bots that take over when a human player disconnects, use of the Source engine to add global lighting and true cloth simulations, revamped voice acting, and use of the SteamWorks matchmaking system. In addition, Valve is finally adding in-game voice chat to improve player-to-player communications.

For more details, take a look at an exclusive first look at Gameinformer.com.

DOTA 2 logo

Comments

13 Oct 2010 ~ 1:57pm UPSLynx http://twitter.com/#!/UPSLynx/statuses/27262830749
13 Oct 2010 ~ 2:05pm primesuspect u mad
13 Oct 2010 ~ 2:36pm Winfrey unexpected to say the least.
13 Oct 2010 ~ 2:45pm Chooch I think he is mad...
13 Oct 2010 ~ 2:54pm Koreish Valve and Blizzard are starting to annoy me with how many projects they have going and how slowly they are coming out because of it.

That said I am excited to see where this is going and I know that it won't disappoint me.
13 Oct 2010 ~ 3:32pm Bandrik My personal take on this? I think it's good news, overall. I'm not a DotA player, but I am enjoying League of Legends quite a bit.

I think Riot Games has a lot going for it in LoL, so it'll be nice to see how they improve their game to answer what Valve and DotA 2 will be bringing to the table. Competition is good, and if it's the push Riot needs to add features LIKE VOICE CHAT to LoL, I'm all for it.

However, I cannot say I do not blame Lynx in the least. Episode 3 has been a dark and secret development for 4 effing years. E3 has come and gone, and there's still not a peep about it, yet they have all the time in the world to cash in on fan-favorite spin-offs. It's not like they're hurting for money, right?

Bittersweet, thy name is Valve.
13 Oct 2010 ~ 3:59pm Bandrik

UPSLynx wrote:

I promise to all of you, if Valve announces something OTHER than Episode 3 tomorrow (http://is.gd/fZKYD), I will throw my PC out the window.

I hate you, Valve software. With every single ounce of being in my body, my hatred burns black and seethes from every inch. I. Hate. You.

Also, I realize I must deliver on the PC throwing part. I need to figure out logistics, chucking hardware isnt as easy in an apartment cmplx

You know, this won't be your first foray into destruction of PC-related hardware. Because you're an experienced pro at it, I certainly hope that you film it, so that your rig can go out with a bang... in the most epic, honorable, and hardcore way possible.
13 Oct 2010 ~ 4:58pm UPSLynx Yes. I mad. I very mad.
13 Oct 2010 ~ 5:06pm Bandrik

UPSLynx wrote:

Yes. I mad. I very mad.
13 Oct 2010 ~ 7:23pm primesuspect
13 Oct 2010 ~ 7:49pm ardichoke

UPSLynx wrote:

Yes. I mad. I very mad.

C'mon... make with the throwing of your computer out the window. I want video. NAO!
13 Oct 2010 ~ 9:17pm Gattsu Out of all the games that Valve has announced before episode 3. This is the only one I am happy to hear is coming before episode 3. I loved DoTA so much. LoL and Heroes of Newerth still can be fun, but neither of them have kept me occupied as much as the original did. I can't wait to see previews for DoTA 2.
13 Oct 2010 ~ 10:20pm GnomeWizardd Id take a video of him peeing on his orange box! Just keep it PG
14 Oct 2010 ~ 12:04am Canti
14 Oct 2010 ~ 12:10am ardichoke i lol'd
14 Oct 2010 ~ 1:01am Koreish

Gattsu wrote:

Out of all the games that Valve has announced before episode 3. This is the only one I am happy to hear is coming before episode 3. I loved DoTA so much. LoL and Heroes of Newerth still can be fun, but neither of them have kept me occupied as much as the original did. I can't wait to see previews for DoTA 2.

Are you saying you're not happy for Portal 2?
14 Oct 2010 ~ 1:05am primesuspect

UPSLynx wrote:

Yes. I mad. I very mad.

WHYNCHU BLOG BOUTIT?
14 Oct 2010 ~ 5:48am UPSLynx already started on it, son.

also Canti, well done, I LOL'ed.
14 Oct 2010 ~ 12:43pm UPSHitman
14 Oct 2010 ~ 1:44pm shwaip
14 Oct 2010 ~ 4:08pm Thrax Wow, I have to wait for Episode 3 so hero-fapping DoTArds can get their fill of rigging the ladder to stomp noobs? Cool story.
14 Oct 2010 ~ 5:47pm Bandrik
14 Oct 2010 ~ 6:53pm GHoosdum
14 Oct 2010 ~ 10:47pm RootWyrm

Thrax wrote:

Wow, I have to wait for Episode 3 so hero-fapping DoTArds can get their fill of rigging the ladder to stomp noobs? Cool story.

Not to mention that DoTA isn't even all that original. Let's see:
"Borrowed" world? Check.
"Borrowed" characters? Check.
"Borrowed" story? Check.
"Borrowed" playstyle? Check.

Which begs the question, who did Gabe Newell give sexual favors to? Because Blizzard ain't licensing jack after the prior experiments with it. And ain't much of a game with no license for the content.
15 Oct 2010 ~ 1:56am Bandrik And these are all reasons why League of Legends caught my attention much more than DotA ever did. Warcraft is nice, but Legends has a fresher, newer feel to it. A few more steps removed from Blizzard, I'd say.
19 Oct 2010 ~ 4:32pm Bandrik This made an interesting read. Back on Wednesday Oct 13, an anonymous Valve employee made this blog post (scroll down and read "The Truth" entry first) about DOTA's IceFrog, who's real name is Abdul Ismail. Apparently, he's not exactly the friendliest guy to work with, and is causing all sorts of headaches behind-the-scenes. Comments from other game company employees seem to back this up.

Reading through it, I could easily see myself writing something like this. The author is obviously a passionate gamer and employee. The anonymous author keeps a fairly professional attitude, and have thus earned my respect. Also, while things may or may not have been blown out of proportion, I could easily see this being the case. The Valve-DOTA gig was suspicious enough already; this only adds further ichor to the dark cauldron.

Here's an excerpt from the post:

Valve employee's blog post wrote:

...ever since Abdul has joined Valve, he has been poisonous to the company. He is incredibly hard to work with, absolutely impossible to talk to in person due to a complete lack of social skills, and easily holds the most unpleasantly domineering work personality of anyone I have ever met. This is not just my opinion, but the opinion of almost everyone I know who has come in contact with him. Abdul's project is not only becoming one of the most controversial inside the office, but one of the most controversial outside. He is taking the company in a direction I thought we would never head in because he demanded unparalleled control and for some reason was granted it.
19 Oct 2010 ~ 8:14pm primesuspect What an epic clusterfuck.

Seriously. There are no words. When a company has some internal employee venting this badly, there are some deeeeeeep issues.
19 Oct 2010 ~ 8:40pm Bandrik

primesuspect wrote:

What an epic clusterfuck.

Seriously. There are no words. When a company has some internal employee venting this badly, there are some deeeeeeep issues.

Yeah, no kidding. I was a little wary about this "different" direction Valve is taking, but now I'm downright nervous.

While I'm certain DOTA 2 will be "good" and fans will love it, will this game be later known as the initial warning signs to a great game company that changed its mantra? I hate to think of what Valve would be like with a more "EA" styled company philosophy.

Should this happen, the terrorists win.
19 Oct 2010 ~ 8:41pm fatcat Valve and Blizzard are the same....
19 Oct 2010 ~ 8:49pm Thrax In a manner of speaking.

I think people forget the very complicated Blizzard/Vivendi/Activision/Valve relationship. It's a fun one!
19 Oct 2010 ~ 8:56pm Bandrik

Thrax wrote:

In a manner of speaking.

I think people forget the very complicated Blizzard/Vivendi/Activision/Valve relationship. It's a fun one!

Actually, I was not aware of this at all. The news makes me rather sad.