Valve Reveals DotA 2

Valve has revealed today that DotA 2 is in development in conjunction with IceFrog studios and will heat PC and Mac in 2011.

Defence of the Ancients or DotA is a popular gameplay mode where a group of heroes have to defend, erm, the ancients. DotA started as a Warcraft III mod with its unique blend of RTS and RPG action.

According to the press release, DotA 2 is “a massive sequel for one of the most played games in the world”.

GameInformer has more details on DotA 2.

The game runs on the Source engine, supports three-lane maps, has multiplayer competition with AI filling-in for players leaving the game, maintains the toon-style graphics of the original, and has Steamworks implemented along with Achievements.

It will also contain the full roster of 100 heroes from DotA Allstars.

The game also has a coaching system which was described as follows:

By logging in as a coach, veteran players can do their part to help out newer folks. Valve hasn’t entirely decided on the specifics of how newbies and coaches will be matched up, but once they’re together a few things happen. The coach sees the pupil’s screen, and gets private voice and chat channels to communicate with them. The coach probably won’t be able to take control of anything directly (once again, the details are currently under discussion), but information is power in Dota 2 and having a mentor whispering in your ear can make all the difference in the world.