Dota 2 benches Battle Pass for subscription plan

Dota Plus replaces seasonal Battle Passes with a monthly subscription. — AFP Relaxnews

Dota Plus is the name of Valve’s monthly subscription service for multiplayer game and eSports fixture Dota 2, offering cosmetic items, statistical insights, and character perks as part of the package.

Priced at US$3.99 (RM15.57) per month with discounts for 6- and 12-month commitments, the Dota 2 Dota Plus subscription is being rolled out as a year-round replacement for event-based Battle Pass bundles.

As such, it allows its developer Valve to offer a premium membership tier to the free game’s global base of players.

Metred character progression, an AI match analysis assistant, and complimentary access to weekly online tournaments are rewards for joining up.

Players can expect to see their character progression recorded through a leveling system as well as stat-tracking items called Relics, while they also get access to sets of hero-specific challenges, chatwheel dialogue, and a store in which they can spend virtual currency accumulated for winning three matches a week.

The Plus Assistant can be used to suggest items, abilities, characters, and even routes through the Dota 2 arena based on statistical analysis, while global and individual trends can be compared, and match spectators can see live win probability graphs.

Finally, Dota Plus subscribers are able to apply a seasonal terrain effect to their rendering of the Dota 2 map for a bit of a change.

Valve Corp, which develops Dota 2 and both owns and operates PC gaming service Steam, describes the Dota Plus scheme as a replacement for its previous tournament-oriented Battle Pass system.

Purchases of The International Battle Pass had been used to generate a prize pool for Valve’s annual Dota 2 world championships tournament, The International, with 25% of proceeds put towards the fund; The International 2017 awarded prize money from a US$24.7mil (RM96.4mil) purse.

Following The International 2017, Valve did away with its previous tournament structure and replaced its Major Championships circuit, which had three or four main events a year, with an expanded Dota Pro Circuit which will have held nine Major-tier events by early July. — AFP Relaxnews