Newell: Dota 2 won't ship until 2012

[Singo]

[quote]Fantasy strategy game Dota 2 won't ship until 2012, Valve boss Gabe Newell has revealed.

Valve plans to launch an invitation beta after the Gamescom tournament ends. After that a public beta will launch. "And then we'll probably start worrying about how we'll monetise it," Newell told Eurogamer.

"We'll just go into progressively wider and wider distribution. I don't think it'll be shipped until next year."

Dota 2 was penned for launch this year.

"But then," Newell continued, "with a game like this, you just keep shipping. You add new heroes. You try out new game modes. You are constantly tweaking item and hero balance. It's very much an ongoing thing."

Dota 2 is the sequel to Warcraft 3 mod Defense of the Ancients, and is being developed by the reclusive IceFrog, one of a number of of modders who helped make Dota what it is.

While Dota 2 will be distributed through Valve's own platform, Steam, the firm is yet to decide on a business model.

"We don't have a plan," Newell said. "IceFrog has a bunch of testers he's worked with as long as he's been doing development. The first thing we've been working with is addressing their concerns. We've been through four or five different versions of the user interface, getting it to the point where we've addressed the feedback we've got from those guys.

"For us now, this tournament is a really good step. A bunch of the features we're building in the design of Dota 2 related to being able to put on a tournament like this. There's a bunch of stat stuff. There's a bunch of website development, support for simultaneous, four-language broadcasting.

"This was the next step."

Could Dota 2 end up going free-to-play, like Team Fortress 2? "We don't know. We don't have plans yet," Newell said. "The problem isn't to figure out what your monetisation strategy is. If you have something with a super careful monetisation strategy and it sucks, it doesn't matter.

"The most important thing is to do something that resonates well with the existing Dota players and creates a vehicle for new players to join into the community. That's the hard problem. That's the interesting one to solve."

[url]http://www.eurogamer.net/articles/2011-08-18-newell-dota-2-wont-ship-until-2012[/url] [/quote]

Not surprised

[TheHydra]

sometimes you have to wonder how anyone at valve ever made it in the workforce with their terrible punctuality

[postmanX3]

Least Surprising News of the Month goes to...

I'm just hoping there'll either be another chance for beta sign-ups or an open beta by the end of the year.

[Mio Akiyama]

It wouldn't be a Valve game if there wasn't a delay

[SL128]

Below the embedded trailer in the article.
[Quote]DotA 2 is due to be released 2011 on PC, and Mac. Got a news tip? Email [email][e-mail][/email].[/quote]
[img]http://sae.tweek.us/static/images/emoticons/emot-v.gif[/img]

Now they corrected it.

[Smartlord]

[QUOTE=Captain Chalky;31806842]Let's just be happy that it's actually coming out some day, unlike some other VALVe game. *cough cough*[/QUOTE]
Yep, that sequel to Ricochet we've all been waiting for.

[LATTEH]

if this game is going to be free 2 play (or free idk what ever) they should keep the game available and just do updates to it like TF2 (but not just new items and stuff engine upgrades that stuff)

[ghiacciato]

Well, I, for once, can't complain, I got onto the Beta list when subscribing onto it was still possible. So I'll be able to check it out after the International, it seems. :3

[Puvleek]

At least we can hope for a long beta period.

[EinAlex]

Translation: They have not yet figured out what to add to the game instead of hats.

[Swiket]

[QUOTE=Mio Akiyama;31806553]It wouldn't be a Valve game if there wasn't a delay[/QUOTE]
L4D2

[ghiacciato]

[QUOTE=Wormy;31807369]It's still possible to sign up for the beta.[/QUOTE]

Aww, there goes my feeling of exclusivity.

[d3m0l1sh3r]

When 2012 will come, Valve won't die in same date as all... Valve time...

[Mr Skeltal]

I dont plan on buying this, I could only handle a few rounds of LoL before i burned out on it

[shakadamus]

Valve gets a few knocks for their constant delays but in all fairness at least they nearly always deliver a good game.

[ironman17]

Adding new heroes, they say? Will some of these be from other Valve franchises, do you think?

It'd be damn cool if they did that. I'd be very interested if I could play as Louis or Engineer. Cross-promos open up possibilities as well, even if some of said possibilities would be controversial. (namely new heroes made available when new titles are promoted, like Desmond if they cross-promote Assassin's Creed 3, or even Hawke if they promote Dragon Age 3, the latter of which sounds more probable)

I expect disagreement, but I also expect explaination. If I do not get explaination, I will pursue it.

[Aurora93]

[QUOTE=ironman17;31811313]Adding new heroes, they say? Will some of these be from other Valve franchises, do you think?

It'd be damn cool if they did that. I'd be very interested if I could play as Louis or Engineer. Cross-promos open up possibilities as well, even if some of said possibilities would be controversial. (namely new heroes made available when new titles are promoted, like Desmond if they cross-promote Assassin's Creed 3, or even Hawke if they promote Dragon Age 3, the latter of which sounds more probable)

I expect disagreement, but I also expect explaination. If I do not get explaination, I will pursue it.[/QUOTE]

doesn't fit in the medieval universe

[SnowCanary]

[QUOTE=Aurora93;31811410]doesn't fit in the medieval universe[/QUOTE]

Demoknight

[Randdalf]

[QUOTE=Aurora93;31811410]doesn't fit in the medieval universe[/QUOTE]

Dota 2 is the sequel to a Warcraft 3 mod, and the art is heavily reminiscent of it. Now recall World of Warcraft, which has for some reason, motorcycles. I don't think a demoknight would be entirely out of place.

[Drewsko]

[QUOTE=Swiket;31807408]L4D2[/QUOTE]

And how well did that go, again?

[bagman]

[QUOTE=Drewsko;31812594]And how well did that go, again?[/QUOTE]

The game's actually doing pretty well.

[Santz]

[QUOTE=ironman17;31811313]Adding new heroes, they say? Will some of these be from other Valve franchises, do you think?

It'd be damn cool if they did that. I'd be very interested if I could play as Louis or Engineer. Cross-promos open up possibilities as well, even if some of said possibilities would be controversial. (namely new heroes made available when new titles are promoted, like Desmond if they cross-promote Assassin's Creed 3, or even Hawke if they promote Dragon Age 3, the latter of which sounds more probable)

I expect disagreement, but I also expect explaination. If I do not get explaination, I will pursue it.[/QUOTE]

The stealth assassin is pretty much the Spy(Goes invisible and does extra damage from backstabb attacks), and the Goblin Techies is pretty much the Demoman(Uses mines, explosives, etc).
Also lets remember there are some "Steampunk" characters in DOTA, like the Clockwerk, Tinker and the Gyrocopter, so heroes are not only bounded by the medieval fantasy theme.

Im wondering how are they gonna profit from this game, I hope they just charge 15$ for it or so, I cant imagine DOTA with hats or skin shits, it would look odd.

[Kaelan Frey]

[QUOTE=ShazzyFreak0;31813045]The game's actually doing pretty well.[/QUOTE]

In my opinion I really didn't like L4D2 when it was first launched due to ALOT of bugs and AI retardness (foreveralone.jpg) but then updates came and now I... well... just like it. Just because the network code doesn't like my connection (or vice versa). I can't join a match without having to reconnect. And it has alot of hiccups for some damn reason when I'm supposed to be able to run it at High graphical settings.

And I signed up for the beta, I really hope that I'm picked. :v:

[bull3tmagn3t]

[QUOTE=TheHydra;31805718]sometimes you have to wonder how anyone at valve ever made it in the workforce with their terrible punctuality[/QUOTE]
[media][URL="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YR0WN55p_zI"]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YR0WN55p_z[/URL] [/media]

[Sparkwire]

[quote]"And then we'll probably start worrying about how we'll monetise it," Newell told Eurogamer.[/quote]

Best company ever.

[Milkyway M16]

So wait, Dota 2 pushed back to 2012, CS:GO 2012, anyone else feelin orange box 2.0 with ep3 included?

[SnowCanary]

[QUOTE=Milkyway M16;31827252]So wait, Dota 2 pushed back to 2012, CS:GO 2012, anyone else feelin orange box 2.0 with ep3 included?[/QUOTE]

I think that DOTA 2 and CS:GO will be bundled, but EP3 will definitely not be in there.