Which by all accounts is the evolution of the current bi-annual Battle Pass. Included in Dota Plus is Hero Leveling to unlock badges and progression rewards, and a detailed Plus Assistant that will let players better understand their play-style via graphs and analysis tools. Also, access to play in weekend tournaments.

Available for $3.99 USD per month with discounts for long-term subscriptions, Dota Plus also offers members access to exclusive seasonal terrain that will change the look of maps.

Hero Progression

Hero Leveling

Stat-Tracking Hero Relics

Hero Chatwheel Lines

Hero-Specific Challenges

Weekly Victory Reward Shards

Plus Rewards Store, Featuring: Exclusive Plus Hero Sets, Select Legacy Hero Sets, Hero Relics

Plus Perks

Free Entry to Weekly Battle Cups

Access to Current Seasonal Terrain

Plus Assistant

Item Suggestions (Data Driven)

Real Time Comparative Analytics

Lane Setup Suggestions

Ability Suggestions (Data Driven)

Detailed Death Summary

Dynamic Hero Pick Suggestions

Post-Game Analytics

Hero-Specific Global Rank Trends

Spectator Win Probability Graph

For mroe info and details on the above, head to the official Dota Plus page.

Yeah, a surprise Elon Musk appearance anywhere means that some serious future science is about to go down. And his appearance over the weekend at the Dota 2 International came in the form of a fancy OpenAI bot that was able to beat one of the world's best players in 1v1 standard tournament rules.

Explained away by the bot's creators as "a step towards building AI systems which accomplish well-defined goals in messy, complicated situations involving real humans", you can probably guess where this will end up. Some sort of future where robots enslave humans to work in the laser mines on one of Jupiter's orbiting moons.

Anyway, until that day getting to see AI do its thing and succeed can be a lot of fun.



One interesting thing to note is that OpenAI's bot doesn't have some sort of crazy APM (actions-per-minute), as it's apparently comparable to that of an average human player. Very cool.

Next on the cards is building a team of bots to take on humans in a standard 5v5 round of Dota 2.

As the Invitational draws closer, DOTA 2 has received a new update aimed at newcomers. Which is great news because trying to learn the ropes of an already established and popular MOBA can be quite the daunting task. The update itself sounds great too, covering what could be seen as the biggest obstacles or hurdles for new players.

First up, hero selection for new players will be limited to a curated group of twenty heroes chosen for their ease of play and how successful they are at letting players learn the ropes. A selection that no doubt was born from a lot of research.

Secondly, and probably the most interesting is that matches for new players will be against players with consistently high behavior scores. Which, ticks off that box where you might find yourself in a game with people with little or no patience for someone who's APM isn't up to scratch. As per the post, "the matchmaking system will now ensure that new players will play with and against appropriately-skilled players that also have a track record of good behavior".

Out of curiosity, is there anyone out there who hasn't given Valve's DOTA 2 a proper go yet?

Last year the DOTA 2 International Championships set a record for the largest ever esports prize pool of $20,770,460. Yeah, that's quite the number. With a percentage of the proceeds from Battle Pass sales going towards the number, this year is already on track to surpass last year's record. In that it has done so already.

With several more weeks of sales still to go. You can check out the current prize pool figure, and get more info on this year's Battle Pass here. Which includes the first to Acts of the DOTA 2 multiplayer campaign Slitbreaker.

And for a more detailed breakdown of the money raised this year compared to the past few, head here.

Which is a move by Valve to combat players will multiple accounts taking part in what's commonly referred to as "smurfing". A MOBA staple seen in a variety of free-to-play titles where secondary and third accounts are treated in a less serious fashion than someone's primary, or utilised in a way to boost lower level friends to higher ranked tiers. Generally, unfair stuff all round.

Asking for a phone number in order to make players eligible to take part in Dota 2 ranked play may sound extreme, but it could be the only way to combat this phenomenon. A two week grace period for players to link phone numbers with their Steam Accounts is currently in effect.

This announcement comes as part of a larger update to matchmaking, which you can read all about here. One of the cool new features is the introduction of proper Solo Queuing whereby players will only be matched up against and with other Solo Players. Very cool.

Hot on the heels of some sweet DOTA 2 action on the weekend, which our very own Joaby soaked up like those magic bits of cloth* that you see in those infomercials, comes word of a massive 7.00 update. And it's a big one. We're talking a new character in the form of the Monkey King, a brand spanking new HUD, new talent trees, map changes, and plenty more.

There's a lot to get through, so be sure to head on over to the official DOTA 27.00 update hub to check out all the details. One of the cool new features of the new Monkey King hero is that he can actually climb trees in the game. Very cool.

Always in search of a good fight, Monkey King travels atop the trees aiming to spring from leafy cover and surprise his enemies. Calling upon an army of monkey soldiers to overwhelm opponents, this agile trickster revels in the chaos of battle, ready to slam his legendary staff down on any hopes of escape.

Perhaps the biggest new addition in the update are the new Talent Trees that let players that select augmentations like '+40 Attack Speed' and '+15 Damage' for their heroes at levels 10, 15, 20, and 25.

And when you factor in the revamped HUD, map changes and hero changes, playing DOTA 2 tomorrow is going to feel like a very different game. But, and even better one. If that's possible.

* - Which I've bought, and yes they do work. Like magic.

Day 2 kicked off with a bang as NA favourites DC took on Team Faceless. After that Chinese juggernauts EHOME took on NA newcomers Team NP, Chinese juggernauts Newbee took on EU newcomers Ad Finem and then Chinese juggernauts LGD Gaming took on Chinese newcomers LGD.ForeverYoung. Let's take a look at the best matches from the day.




Digital Chaos vs Team Faceless
Game one saw Team Faceless on Dire and DC on Radiant. Faceless came out with a draft which has been strong in Boston, comboing Shadow Demon with a spawner to create overwhelming pressure. In this case, Dominik "Black^" Reitmeier was on a Terrorblade to combo with Toh Wai "xy-" Hong's Shadow Demon. Unfortunately for Faceless they weren't able to capitalise on said great draft as DC played extremely safe and eked out the necessary farm. While Faceless were looking to pressure, DC were staying out ahead in terms of gold and experience. A great team fight for the Singaporean team at the 21 minute mark looked like it might be the momentum swing they needed, but DC went straight back to playing their own conservative Dota, taking low-risk towers and forcing Faceless back to their base. In the end, stuck in their base, Faceless felt the pressure and buckled, losing game one.

Game two saw DC on Radiant and Faceless on Dire. This game was a lot more like the Faceless we saw in the group stages. During game one it seemed like they were trying to play the tournament meta, which DC played around with ease, but here while they continued to push, they had a lot more gank-a-bility as well. David "MoonMeander" Tan, DC's Dark Seer, was caught out twice early, and things were looking good for the upstart Singaporean team. Game two was far more exciting than game one, and Faceless looked firmly in control. A big difference was in vision, which DC was able to manage very well in the first game — less so in the second. Somewhere around the 26 minute mark communication started to break down for the Dire team however, and DC started picking them off all over the place. A massive teamfight at the 31 minute mark spelled the end for Faceless, although DC wouldn't fully wrap things up until five minutes later.
DC win 2 - 0. Watch the second game below.



EHOME vs Team NP'
Stop the presses, one of the Round of 16 match-ups was a three game series! EHOME and Team NP went all the way to the end to determine who would head through to the Quarter Finals. In game one EHOME was Radiant and Team NP was Dire. Both teams played very conservatively to begin, each waiting for the other to make a mistake. The first mistake would come four and a half minutes in when Ren "eLeVeN" Yangwei rotated to catch Arif "MSS" Anwar lingering a little too long and EHOME secured the first blood. From there both teams settled into farming, and each got some cheeky ganks here and there. But the tower push from EHOME was much, much better than NP's, as Liu "Sylar" Jiajun's Lycan forced NP back into their base. With better farm, EHOME was in a perfect position to attack NP and finish them off.

Game two saw NP on the Radiant side and EHOME on Dire. Both teams played warily to begin, with first blood going NP's way at around four minutes with a gank on Sylar's Leshrac. EHOME did a fantastic job of managing vision in game two, which made NP's ability to scout out a smoke gank around 10 minutes that much more impressive. They still lost Kurtis "Aui_2000" Ling and Jacky "EternaLEnVy" Mao, but it could have been much worse. As vision on the Radiant side slowly got worse things started to look bad for the Canadian team, but they turned the tables on an overconfident Dire team thanks to MSS's Beastmaster and a handful of luck. A full teamwipe at the 28 minute mark tipped the scales heavily in NPs favour and they were able to snowball their way to victory.

Game three, the first decider of this Round of 16, was definitely the one to watch. EHOME was on Radiant, NP on Dire, and both teams went out guns blazing. EHOME were looking especially scary thanks to a combo of Shadow Demon and Luna — the duo du jour — but NP were rocking the Warlock/Mirana combo which had worked well for them last game so it was anyone's game. EternalEnVy set the tone for the game with a great kill on Radiant's courier just 75 seconds in. EHOME responded, getting First Blood 70 seconds later. In a game that better resembled a brawl than a Dota match, NP were frantically working to keep Luna from getting online — and EHOME were desperately trying to make that happen. Aui was pretty much left alone, allowing him to get his own scary magic lady — Naga Siren — teed up. A teamwipe at 18 minutes put EHOME in a rough spot, and things just got rougher from there as the Dire team crunched the top and bottom barracks and the Radiant side was forced to defend from their base. Team NP would go on to win inside of 36 minutes. This game is embedded below.
Team NP win 2 - 1.



Newbee vs Ad Finem
If they're anything, Ad Finem are fun to watch. They slugged their way through the Group Stages, and they're hoping to go blow for blow with Newbee in their first Round of 16 match-up.

In game one AF was Radiant and Nb were Dire, and things did not go well. AF picked Bounty Hunter first, which was an odd move as it was unlikely that Nb would want to grab it — even if just to deny AF the opportunity — and it allowed Newbee the chance to shape the draft without having the actual first pick. Worse still, once the game began the Dire side managed to repeatedly find Verros "Maybe Next Time" Apostolos on the Bounty Hunter and Xu "uuu9" Han's Juggernaut killed AF's bottom tower very early as a result. One thing single eliminations has done is empowered conservative teams to play their withdrawn style of Dota — why risk it, right? That's very much what happened here, as Newbee stayed safe and pressured towers only when they were sure they'd get away with it. Despite only lasting 33 minutes, this was a very slow game. When AF were finally forced to fight from their base, Newbee had too much farm and the Greek team dropped like flies.

Game two was much more exciting. AF was Radiant, Newbee was Dire, and Ad Finem didn't make the mistake they made in game one, leaving their Bounty Hunter pick to third. The real star of this game was Omar "Madara" Dabachach on Morphling, who got off to a huge lead in XP and gold early on and turned into a rolling nightmare for Newbee. AF were able to set the pace this time, snagging some courier kills and earning extra gold thanks to Bounty Hunter's Track. Newbee were able to stay in the game a lot longer than they should have thanks to a few misplays by Haris "SkyLark" Zafiriou on the Batrider, but eventually the pressure from Madara's nigh invincible Morphling was too much, and the series was forced to a game three.

Game three saw AF as Radiant and Newbee as Dire, and it got off to a terrible start for the Chinese team when Zeng "Faith" Hongda and Hu "Kaka" Liangzhi got caught out near the top lane. If Madara was the star of the second game, Maybe Next Time on Mirana was close to perfect in the third, using her Sacred Arrows to secure some devastating kills against Newbee. The whole time Nb were contending (or failing to) with Madara and Mirana, Dimitris "ThuG" Plivouris was slowly building his Alchemist into an unstoppable beast. As time went on Newbee's path to victory got narrower and narrower as the Alchemist became more powerful, and by the 23 minute mark their only real option was to try to initiate on some teamfights — fights they just didn't win. The Dire team did their best, but eventually they succumbed to the relentless pressure from AF, and they were knocked out of the tournament. Watch game two below.
Ad Finem win 2 - 1.



LGD Gaming vs LGD Forever Young
We called them newcomers above, but LFY are Dota veterans, captained by Zhang "xiao8" Ning — who played for Newbee when they won The International 2014 (and also appeared on that hilarious dating show they broadcast on SBS sometimes). And their opponents, LGD Gaming, are giants in their own right, lead by Lu "Maybe" Yao, who hasn't appeared on any dating shows as far as I can tell.

Game one saw LGD play Radiant, and LFY took Dire. In a long, drawn out battle between the two last remaining Chinese teams in the tournament, LFY got off to a rough start with some huge misplays by Yao "Yao" Zhengzheng on Sand King and Xiao8 on the Batrider. LGD found themselves with a strong grasp on the game as they tried to get Maybe farmed up on the Shadow Fiend — all while killing towers where available. For all the map control they had, though, LGD was having problems with LFY picking off Chen "Victoria" Guanhong on IO, keeping them in the game. LFY stayed cool, did their best to keep getting picks and to stay in the game, and it paid off when a botched LGD gank around the Roshan pit 34 minutes in gave LFY an Aegis and control of the match.

Game two once again had LGD on Radiant and LFY on Dire. The hot pick on LGD was Maybe playing Timbersaw, which promised to give him a lot of survivability — and a heap of damage output too. For LFY, Xiao8 was again on Batrider, and Yang "END" Pu on Lifestealer — the pair combo'd together beautifully multiple times towards the end of the game. Maybe was actually killed first as LFY hunted down the Timbersaw early on, and LFY went on a bit of a tear for the first few minutes as they ganked Ogre Magi and Nyx Assassin as well (although Jixing on Nyx successfully suicided to Neutral Creeps). It became apparent that LGD would need to create map pressure to stay in the game, so the Radiant team took Dire's Bottom Tier 1 Tower and it quickly translated into a kill. LGD started to regain control as they killed Xiao8 repeatedly while he struggled to get the items he needed — a Blink dagger would give him the escapability (and initiation) he required. After the 12 minute mark, however, things began to slip away from LGD as LFY was able to follow up single ganks with extra kills repeatedly. LGD just weren't able to crawl back into the fight as their opponents dominated the map with vision control that LGD wasn't able to deal with. In the end LFY's ability to find and gank Jixing's Nyx Assassin every time he was visible destroyed LGD's ability to live through teamfights, and the 'youngster' team secured their place in the Quarter Finals. Watch the second game embedded below (when it's available)!
LGD.Forever Young Wins 2 - 0



That's it for Day 2 of the Main Event of the Boston Major! I'm back running you through the games tomorrow, as Virtus.pro take on EG, WG.Unity battles OG, DC and Team NP duke it out for NA Dota Supremacy and Ad Finem try to eliminate a second Chinese Dota team!

The first day of the main event is underway now, and here's what you might have missed! We'll try to pick out the best game from each series for you to watch, although it might be hard if the stomp is on too hard.

Virtus.pro vs Invictus Gaming Vitality
Game one was relatively uneventful, with Virtus.pro on Radiant and iG.V on Dire. A Treant Protector pick from iG.V caused a lot of headaches for Virtus.pro as Zhang 'Q' Yi used Living Armor to negate the Russian team's damage output early on. Virtus.pro were wiped at the 19 minute mark and it seemed like the upset was on — the Treant pick was too disruptive to their bullish style. The game swung back to VP when they snagged the Aegis of the Immortals at about 24 minutes though, and the Radiant team pushed out towers until they took Dire's top barracks, secured a teamwipe near the Roshan pit (the holder of the Aegis) and finished iG.V off.

The second round was much more exciting. Again VP were Radiant and iG.V was Dire, and again VP secured first blood. Far more kills, and more skirmishes dictated the pace of this game. iG.V were again trying to slow the pace, but VP wouldn't let up, constantly instigating to put pressure on an iG team that looked firmly in control. A risky push from iG.V into the top lane cost them dearly, swinging the momentum in Virtus.pro's favour and securing the victory — although iG.V played out what was essentially the first elimination game to the bitter end. VP wins, 2 - 0.



Wings Gaming vs Evil Geniuses.
Despite featuring a different line-up, Evil Geniuses bears the title of The International 2015 champions. And Wings Gaming has the honour of being their successors, winners of The International 2016. So this promised to be a solid match-up. Nevertheless, Wings has had good form since The International, and EG has… not. So their bout promised to be interesting.

In Game 1 Wings were Radiant and EG landed on the Dire side. EG picked up a cheeky gank for first blood 30 seconds before the first creep wave, but by five minutes that game looked fairly even. EG did a fantastic job of picking apart Wings' Clockwerk, played by Zhang "Faith_Bian" Ruida, finding him all over the map and shutting him down. This made life difficult for Wings, and their only option was to switch gears and try to slow the game down. The Chinese team pushed into towers to swing pressure back onto EG, but Sumail "Suma1L" Hassan's Alchemist was able to keep the focus on Wings, and when Artour "Arteezy" Babaev caught Chu "shadow" Zeyu in a gank right underneath the top tower without a buyback, Wings had no choice but to call GG.

Game 2 didn't go much better for the defending International Champions. Wings were again Radiant and EG were on the Dire side, and EG scored first blood again. Li "iceice" Peng rotated to the top lane to help out Faith_Bian, walking himself right into a gank from Andreas "Cr1t" Nielsen. From there, it was a non-stop barrage as Evil Geniuses found pick-offs all over the map, with Arteezy's Luna doing a lot of the heavy lifting. It seemed essentially over for the reigning champions — when Wings started playing conservatively EG matched them, and with the advantage available to the NA team the Radiant side was forced into taking risks. One of those risks paid off big around the 34 minute mark, when Wings secured the team wipe on EG — but it just wasn't enough to get them back into the game.
EG wins 2 - 0.

The first game is better viewing and has been embedded below, but the team wipe from Wings in the second game is spectacular play.


CompLexity Gaming vs WarriorsGaming.Unity
WarriorsGaming.Unity managed to secure the upset against Wings in the Group Stages, so they were definitely worth watching as they took on CompLexity — the NA team managed to beat Evil Geniuses in their own group stage.

In game one, WG.U played Radiant and CoL played Dire. CoL picked up first blood 90 seconds in, when Kyle "swindlezz" Freedman caught Chua Soon "KanGaroo" Khong out of position and punished him for it. A three-for-one at nine minutes put CompLexity firmly in control, and things seemed to be going their way as they began to establish map control. Once Kam Boon 'NaNa' Seng’s Timbersaw was able to get some desperately needed survivability, however, WG.U were able to find pick-offs on CoL's Mirana and Weaver and this gave them the positioning they needed to take down CoL's top barracks — unleashing super creeps and putting all the pressure back on CoL. WG.U's ability to attack CoL's buildings made it difficult for CompLexity to fight back, and when they lost a teamfight at the 24 minute mark they had no choice but to GG.

In game two WG.U were Radiant and CoL Dire, and CoL picked up first blood 90 seconds in. If you're decent at pattern recognition, you'll know what happens next — WG.U replicated their success from the first game and managed to eek out a victory. Spoiler alert! It wasn't actually an identical game — this one was much closer as CompLexity fought to stay in the tournament. Mihai "canceL^^" Antonio secured the first blood on NaNa's Timbersaw deep under WG.U's mid tower, firing a warning shot at WG.U and attempting to set the tone for the game. With swindlezz on Treant Protector this time, CoL had a good team composition to counter WG.U's push, and both teams were forced to tread water for a while as they tried to get their heroes enough gold and experience to reach their potential. Both teams traded evenly, with WG.U focusing on Jaron "monkeys-forever" Clinton's Sand King and CoL blasting down Lai Jay "Ahjit" Son's Luna, but a teamfight loss at 24 minutes gave the advantage to WG.U, and they never let it go. CompLexity managed to sneak away with the Roshan at 26 minutes, but WG.U immediately punished them for it and pushed the Dire team all the way back to their base.
WarriorsGaming.Unity win, 2 - 0



OG vs MVP Phoenix
OG are definitely the favourites in this match-up against the South Korean MVP Phoenix. You might be sick of me harping on about this, but they're both teams with Aussies — OG has Anathan "ana" Pham and MVP Phoenix has Kim "Velo" Tae-sung — so definitely one to watch.

Game one was a barnstormer, with MVP Phoenix playing as Radiant and OG on the Dire side. OG gave Ana an Ember Spirit as their surprise final pick, and this combined with Shadow Demon and Luna — a combo used effectively by both EG and WG.U earlier in the day — turned OG into a split-pushing nightmare for the Radiant team. Instead the onus was on MVP Phoenix to stop OG from getting to the point where they were unstoppable, and far out they did their best. A four man stomping at the 19 minute mark threatened to give MVP the advantage, and the South Korean team did its best to capitalise on the momentum, but OG didn't break stride as they split pushed their way to victory. Every time MVP moved out to secure a gank, OG moved down another lane to punish the attempt, and in the end MVP weren't able to leave their base without losing their barracks. Weaver, Sniper and Vengeful Spirit dying at the 39 minute mark secured the victory for OG.

Game two had MVP as Radiant, OG as Dire and MVP snagged the First Blood (as they did in game 1) which, based on the nature of all games today meant that OG would win the series. MVP's high pressure blitz style was working out well for them in game two, as they snagged kills on OG's heroes thanks to aggressive use of their Smokes of Deceit. By smoking on two heroes, MVP were able to get kills, but more importantly they put pressure on OG as the Dire side was forced to play conservatively until they could work out where the missing heroes were. It slowed down OG's experience and gold gain quite a bit, which was important if MVP were to survive into the late game. Johan "N0tail" Sundstein on Terrorblade and Gustav "s4" Magnusson on Axe were proving difficult to deal with, however, as they split focus on either side of the map and created a lot of pressure for the Radiant side. After 20 minutes and with significant map pressure online from OG, they began to bait MVP into teamfights. The South Korean team were left without choices though — they had to go for it, and OG were able to capitalise with a series of huge teamfight trades resulting in a snowball victory for the European team.
OG wins 2 - 0.



That's all for today's Dota 2 awesomeness! Tune in tomorrow for more action out of Boston as Ad Finem take on Newbee, Digital Chaos clash with Team Faceless, EHOME battles Team NP and the two LGD teams duke it out.

The Boston Major — the first of Valve's Dota 2 tournaments for the 2016 - 2017 season — is kicking off this weekend with Group Stages. The event, being held at the Wang Theatre in Boston, should set the scene for the rest of the Dota 2 season, although there are some notable absences. Here are 5 things to watch out for as the first event in the season kicks off.



1 - Aussie, Aussie, Aussie!
Australia has decent representation at the Boston Majors, with three players in three fantastic teams. Damien "kpii" Chok is currently playing for Chinese team Newbee — as he did at The International this year. Kim "Velo" Tae-sung is Offlaning for South Korean team MVP Phoenix, who should be back in form with Lee "Forev" Sang-don slotting back into the team to replace Lee "Reisen" Jun-yeong. And Anathan "ana" Pham is playing for European team OG, filling the space Amer "Miracle" Barqawi left behind when he left for Team Liquid.

2 - No Team Secret or Team Liquid
Team Liquid and Team Secret both missed out on invitations to the Major, and both teams were knocked out of the European Qualifiers by Greek up-and-comers Ad Finem. This means there will be no Puppey, no MATUMBAMAN, no MP and no Miracle at the Boston Major tournament — at least not as competitors.

3 - The Rise of Team NP
Team NP — formed in September this year by Jacky "EternaLEnVy" Mao — is looking good heading into the Boston Major. While they've been dropping games against teams like OG and Wings, they're showing great form and will no doubt place highly as they continue to gel together. They were dominant against CompLexity Gaming in the American Qualifiers for the tournament, and they're a team to watch closely for the future.

4 - Wings and Virtus.Pro Are Terrifying
Wings Gaming won The International 2016 and have barely slowed down since. The Chinese champions dropped games to perpetual rivals Evil Geniuses at The Summit 6, but they've got momentum on their side and they will be hard to stop. Then again, if anyone can stop them, it's Virtus.Pro. The Russian team had an exceedingly rough year which lead to their failure to even qualify for The International 2016, but an organisational rejuvenation has them moving at full tilt. They knocked Wings into the Losers Bracket at The Summit 6 before winning the whole thing, smashing OG in the process. If you can't bring yourself to back Wings because of The International curse, VP are hot on their heels.

5 - 6.88 Has Shaken Up The Meta
A lot of little changes to the heroes with the highest winrates, like Outworld Devourer and Batrider, should make the picked hero pool more diverse heading into Boston. The International had an extremely varied use rate, and it looks like Boston will follow suit. One massive change is a nerf to Infused Raindrop which might make magic damage heroes more viable — Lina being viable again would be extremely welcome.

We'll be covering the Boston Major here on AusGamers, and we'll be watching it closely to see how it all shapes up. Be sure to come back tomorrow, we've got some great stuff lined up.

Now to those that are unfamiliar with DOTA 2 that headline probably won't make a lot of sense. Battle what now? Glad you asked. Well, essentially it provides seasonal quests for DOTA 2 players, where they can earn Battle Points and various rewards. There are even community goals that will unlock special rewards when enough players complete certain challenges.

Introducing the Winter 2016 Battle Pass, available now! Take your Dota skills and your treasure collection to the next level as you play your way to digital fortune and glory. Level up your Battle Pass by fulfilling in-game Quests and wagering on matches to score Battle Points, then head into the gallery of Rewards to marvel at the haul of your efforts. Including several exclusive seasonal features, the Winter 2016 Battle Pass is the perfect digital companion for the hibernal months to come.

Also featured in this Battle Pass, the 2016 Shanghai Major Compendium makes its debut in advance of the upcoming competition at Mercedes-Benz Arena. As the opening games draw near, the compendium will become your source for upcoming Shanghai Major news and activities, hosting recaps of the road to the Major, team profiles, tournament predictions, and all of the things you need to follow the action no matter how far you are from the main stage.

There's also a tagline, 'Level Up By Playing', which kind of sums it up perfectly. Apart from omitting the whole wagering/betting sub-game. To find out more head to the official site. And sure it may be summer, but there's something calming about playing and watching winter-themed stuff during the hotter months.

The MOBA train continues to chug along without much thought to stopping, with Valve's free-to-play title Dota 2 surpassing 1 million concurrent players over the weekend just gone, an impressive milestone for any game.

VG247New Bloom Festival. According to the page the "Year Beast Brawl is like a normal match of All-Pick Dota, except that each team now has a powerful helper: their very own Year Beast."

To put the numbers into perspective, Steam has previously recorded a concurrent playerbase of 8 million. We know that Dota 2 is by far the most popular game on Steam, with Counter-Strike: Global Offensive coming in at second place, but 1 million is just a crazy number. Not as crazy as say League of Legends though, which Riot has previously pointed to a player record of 7.5 million.

Are you one of the million players who joined into a match over the weekend? Whose your favourite pick? Let us know in the comments!

Dota 2's annual 'The International' has been finally given a definitive date, with Valve revealing that the event will take place from August 3rd to August 8th.

The International 2015's main event will run a full six days, as opposed to last year's four. Valve once again plans to feature 16 teams in championship Dota 2 play, and says it will send team invitations "shortly after" May 1st, so polish your eSports skills.

Valve did not announce venue details, prize pool or ticket availability. The announcement of The International Dota 2 championship comes much earlier in the year than it has in previous years. Valve said it announced the tournament's date "so that you're able to start making room in your schedules."

The International 2015 won't be running alone, with the innagural Gamescom convention in Cologne, Germany running alongside the August date.

Last year's The International Dota 2 championship, the fourth Valve-backed tournament, took place at Seattle's Key Arena, from July 18 to 21. Chinese team Newbee won last year's Dota 2 championship, defeating ViCi Gaming in the grand finals to win a $5 million prize pool.

Adult entertainment website YouPorn has finalised a deal with Spain-based pro gaming team Play2Win to sponsor them for six months. Play2Win will play as Team YP at the Gamergy competition in Madrid on December 5th for the DOTA 2 tournament.

"We’re so psyched to finally make our official entry into gaming and eSports," says Brad Burns, Vice President, YouPorn. "This partnership has been a long time coming, and I believe that with our backing, along with the expertise that each member of Team YP brings to the table on the virtual battlefield, we can succeed in tearing through the competition at this year’s Gamergy event."

YouPorn originally signalled an interest in the growing eSports field earlier this year, and after receiving "hundreds" of potential players the company signed on Team YP in October. "We've got a lot of resources at our disposal," Burns told Polygon. "As far as what we can offer that other sponsors can't goes, is exposure. Any player or team that signs with us will not only garner a lot of media attention, but will also be actively promoted to a captive audience of 20 million visitors every day."

Ever-popular free-to-play MOBA title Dota 2 will soon be undergoing some massive changes, developer Valve has revealed in a new blog post. Among your typical hero changes, the game's iconic map will also be getting a much needed location change in regards to NPC Roshan.

Titled "Rekindling Soul", the update will be shifting the NPC dragon character Roshan into a more comfortable position. Per Valve, Roshan's "pit now looks out upon the river from another angle," and other areas around it have been retooled to provide new means of accessing it. Other map changes include a raising of each teams starting "fountain zone," which is now set on high ground with a wide vision radius.



It isn't just the map that is getting adjustments, with Shadow Fiend getting a frightful new look plus public match favorite character Bloodseeker is receiving several changes while also being removed from Captains Mode. Meanwhile, characters Legion Commander and Terrorblade are both being re-added to Captains Mode after additional rebalancing.

Other major changes include:

The following abilities can now be cast on Spell Immune allies: Ice Armor, Surge, Alacrity, Nature's Guise, Chakra Magic, Recall and Mist Coil

A few abilities and damage type mechanics have been reworked. There are now three primary damage types and a Spell Immunity Piercing status with each. Each ability now carries a notation in the tooltip indicating these.

There is far more changes coming in update 6.82, which you can read in full at the changelog here.

It seems eSports is still a very big thing in the gaming world, with Valve today announcing that more than 20 million viewers tuned in to watch the fourth annual International event for free-to-play MOBA Dota 2.

Valve's number crunchers came out with a new win today as well, noting that this year's International had "well over 2 million" peak concurrent viewers, more than double of what was seen last year. Helping gain those streamers was the ability to watch the tournament pretty much anywhere, with streams running through Steam, streaming service Twitch and even in the actual game. As a first for the eSports series, the game was also watchable through American channel ESPN.

While it is an impressive number for Valve, it seems Riot Games' League of Legends is still the winner. A chief competitor to Dota 2, LoL brought in 32 million viewers with its Season 3 Championship in 2013. The eSports event had 8.5 million peak concurrent viewers, according to Riot's numbers.

To put the eSports events into a more 'real life' perspective, Polygon notes that this year's Super Bowl drew in a crazy 111 million television viewers, with an estimated 2.3 million streaming online. While we may not get to those numbers anytime soon for eSports, its still amazing to see numbers as high as 20 or 32 million eagerly watching champions battle it out.

The International - the epic Dota 2 competition where professional gamers flock around the world to compete for a $10 million prize pool - is just about to go into the Grand Finals:

Today we play the Grand Finals to decide who will win the Aegis and be crowned Champions.

It is ViCi Gaming vs Newbee.

At the end of Phase 2 (group stage) there could not have been two teams further apart. VG had dominated the entire set of round robin matches ending on top of the standings with a 12-3 record. Newbee on the other hand, squeaked in with a 7-8 record that forced a three way TieBreaker.

ViCi’s record gave them an instant trip to the Main Event. Newbee’s record gave them the longest road to the main event but that trip forged the team into something new. They no longer struggled, but dominated matches and now enter today from the Upper Bracket and VG comes from the Lower Bracket.

If you have Dota 2 you can watch the finals in-game (highly recommended) or you can watch all the games live on the Dota website. The pre-game is happening right now with some analysis and commentary.

The KeyArena - 17,000 capacity - is full of screaming Dota fans. It has been fascinating watching this competition and knowing the next few games are going to lead to one team taking home several million dollars is pretty incredible.

With the finals for Dota 2's The International 2014 eSports even approach, the prize pool just keeps on growing thanks to the ridiculous Compendium sales. In just over two weeks since its launch, the largest prize pool in eSports history has hit another milestone, with Dota 2's pool accruing another $1 million to top it at $10 million in funding so far.

The Compendium website has been tracking funds since its launch, unlocking various in-game benefits for both those who purchase the digital book and for those who just happen to enjoy the game. Now that the $10 million stretch goal has been met, players will have the chance to predict the outcome of games they play in the early stages, pending a Valve update.

Team Matchmaking, 1v1 mid-lane practice, and a Favorite Hero tracker were recently added to Dota 2 during the steady flow of Compendium purchases. Currently no other tiers have been listed on the website past the $10 million mark, but we are sure Valve will be updating it soon enough.

The Dota 2 International finals begin July 18 in Seattle, Washington.

The Dota 2 International prize pool just keeps on trucking along, passing the lofty $8 million mark over the weekend.

The huge prize pool is for The International 2014 — the biggest Dota 2 tournament of the year — and Valve is documenting the astronomical growth of the purse on the MOBA game's website. The prize pool is funded by fan donations and support stemming from the release of The Compendium, with donations unlocking various tier rewards ranging from new hero skins to game modes for both Compendium owners and the general public.

Since its debut a few weeks ago where it surpassed $4 million in just under a weekend's worth of being live, the compendium sales have since broken record after record, making it the largest prize pool in eSports history. Currently stretch goals go all the way to the $10 million mark, with the final tier offering a "victory prediction taunt" that will let you cast your vote early in the game on who will win.

For more on the Compendium and its features make sure to throw a successful hook at the official website. Don't know what Dota 2 is? Check out our review by the most obsessed Dota 2 fan you'll ever find, David Harrison.

The sky is the limit for Valve Software's crowdfunded prize additional prize pool for the annual Dota 2 tournament The International, as contributions to The Compendium have now passed the $6 million mark.

$6 million had previously been the highest listed stretch goal for the campaign, and having met that, another nine have been outlined all the way up to $10M.

It’s been only twelve days since the Compendium launched, and already the prize pool for The International has risen to astonishing heights, rocketing beyond the $6,000,000 stretch goal. Now we’re introducing several new stretch goals to aim for. Head over to the Compendium website to learn more.

Haven’t bought a Compendium? Now’s the time make your mark on the biggest Dota 2 event of the year. Activate your Compendium to get the Evolving Battle Point Booster, Couriers, Loading Screens, HUD, a vote for which hero will receive the next Arcana item, upcoming Immortal items, and much more.

That's already a whole lot of change for a videogame tournament. The International 2014 will take place in Seattle on July 18th.

After sitting at $4 million only just three days ago, Dota 2 fans have kicked in an extra $1 million in prize pool funding for their upcoming The International 2014 eSports event.

Valve originally kicked in just $600,000 to start the prize pool off, with users pitching in the rest since its debut only just this weekend gone. The rather rapid increase is all thanks to a $2.50 donation from any player purchasing the Compendium, an all-in-one digital in-game book that offers users the chance to interact with fans and eSports players.

More details about The Compendium, which allows fans to keep up to date with competitors and matches, and its fundraising stretch goals are on The International's official site. The International will be held at Seattle’s Key Arena From July 18th to July 21st.