The original Defense of the Ancients (DotA) is a Warcraft 3 mod that is still going strong. So much so that it has spawned similar games in the form of Heroes of Newerth and League of Legends, along with Valve’s sequel to the game, DotA 2. Now if you were worried that Valve might adopt the same policy that HoN and LoL have, where they require users to pay a small fee in order to unlock access to all the characters, fret not as Valve has officially stated on their DotA 2 blog that access to the game’s heroes will be free of charge and that no unlocking is required.
“All of the heroes will be available free of charge. We believe restricting player access to heroes could be destructive to game design, so it’s something we plan to avoid.”
Valve also has announced that they will be including an in-game store where players will be able to purchase gear and customize heroes. Before you think that these items will give players perks, it doesn’t as according to Valve, the items and gear will be cosmetic only. DotA 2 is expected to be released later this year, but if you’d like to get your hands on the DotA 2 Early Access Bundle, it is currently available for purchase via Steam for $39.99.