The Story of Dota
From a simple mod for Warcraft III to one of the best games of all time, Dota is a highly-acclaimed MOBA that has a fascinating history to discuss. While the most popular edition right now is Dota 2, Dota underwent several changes to be what it is now.
Aside from that, Dota plays a significant part in the eSports world, gaining millions of experienced players and spectators worldwide, so it’s safe to say that this is a game that is going to be around for a long time. However, what made Dota so popular among gamers? Let’s find out!
The Beginnings
Dota was born under the name “DotA Allstars,” which stood for “Defense of the Ancients: Allstars. It was a community-based mod for the game “Warcraft III: The Frozen Throne.” This was an interesting take on videogames back then since it kickstarted the multiplayer online battle arena (MOBA) player base about 15 years ago. Back then, popular games such as League of Legends weren’t around!
DotA Allstars involved a single hero that the player could use throughout the entire game. To win, the player needed to choose one of the three available lanes and destroy the enemy’s “Ancient.” This game was highly popular among users back then, which got the attention of popular game developers and players worldwide.
The Release of Dota 2
The development for DotA Allstars continued until 2012 when developer “Mescon” closed the game to focus on the newly-released League of Legends. However, that wouldn’t be the game’s end. Back in 2009 (before DotA stopped its development), Valve Corporation hired former DotA developer “IceFrog” and bought the intellectual property of the game with the intention of producing a franchise.
In October 2010, Valve Corporation officially announced Dota 2, and it was released to the general public in July 2013. Dota 2 spent about two years on beta testing to ensure that the game was adequately polished when it came out.
Dota and the eSports World
Dota has been a huge collaborator to the eSports scene since it was released, and it has gained a massive player base over the years. However, its popularity spiked when Dota 2 came along. While DotA Allstars also had some events to showcase professional gaming, Dota 2 improved upon the formula and achieved an even bigger player base.
The first worldwide championship was held at the Berlin GamesCon, and it had an impressive $1.6 million prize pool, which was the biggest prize pool that the eSports world had seen up until that day. In 2017, the Dota Pro Circuit was introduced as a professional tournament circuit that allowed Valve to determine which teams qualified for “The International,” which is the annual Dota 2 World Championship.
From 2017 until now, Dota 2 is still active in both the casual and the eSports scene, making this game one of the most popular MOBAs of all time.
Conclusion
While Dota has lost popularity in recent years due to other popular games gaining attention (such as League of Legends), it still has a considerable player base and eSports coverage, so it’s safe to say that this game is not dying anytime soon.
Dota has been praised for its exceptional strategy and game mechanics. However, some other players dismiss it because they claim it’s way too complicated. Either way, Dota 2 is an amazing game that requires a lot of practice and studies to master its mechanics, and it’s great to see how the community still thrives to this day.