Dota 2 Adds Optional Subscription That Includes Challenges, Cosmetics, And Controversial Real-Time Assistant
Valve's making its free-to-play games a little less free lately. First, there was the announcement that Artifact -- which may or may not be a "Dota card game" -- wouldn't be free-to-play last week, and today Valve announced "Dota Plus," an optional subscription service for Dota 2.
Billed as "an evolution of the Majors Battle Pass," Dota Plus costs $3.99 per month, with discounts for six- and 12-month subscriptions. For a fraction of the cost of a typical MMO subscription, you can earn badges, hero voice lines via a new hero chat wheel, hero-specific challenges, weekly rewards of 1,000 shards for winning three matches, and Plus-exclusive cosmetic items.
It's the final component of the package that's raising some eyebrows. In Valve's own words, the Plus Assistant:
offers real-time item and ability suggestions—generated from data gathered across millions of recent games at each skill bracket—to keep you up-to-date on the latest trends. Whether you need advice on which hero best fits a draft, or aren't sure what to build after securing that coveted Blink Dagger, Plus Assistant is in your corner.
In other words, it takes a major strategy of Dota 2 -- building out your character properly -- and automates it, or at least gives suggestions on what items and abilities to go for, to create the most effective hero for your situation, or for what hero to pick in a draft. It also gives you a death summary, for a "second-by-second timeline of incoming damage, stuns, and other disabling effects" whenever a hero dies, along with offering lane strategies and other analytics.
That's got a few people, like TotalBiscuit, thinking the Plus Assistant toes the line of pay-to-win. It certainly goes beyond the cosmetics offerings, which seem like they'd be worth four bucks per month on their own and would do decent business even without the Plus Assistant. On the other hand, it probably doesn't offer any advice that you couldn't get from a website -- albeit not in real time -- or from enough experience What do you think?
Related Articles
About the Author

Jason Winter is a veteran gaming journalist, he brings a wide range of experience to MMOBomb, including two years with Beckett Media where he served as the editor of the leading gaming magazine Massive Online Gamer. He has also written professionally for several gaming websites.
Read Next
Following Three Employee Deaths, Lineage 2: Revolution Developer Netmarble Introduces Anti-Crunch Standards
Korean developer Netmarble Games, which was sued by NCSoft while working on Lineage 2: Revolution -- an event that seemed not to be a hindrance in Revolution becoming one of NCSoft's top games -- has yet another legal issue to...
By Jason Winter - 5 years agoYou May Enjoy
Dead By Daylight Developer Update Addresses "Face-Camping" And Drones
There's also improvements for the Shattered Square and MacMillan Estate maps.
By Matthew D'Onofrio - 6 days agoHere's What You Need To Know About Warhaven, Nexon's New PvP Game That's Launching Today
You have a sword, but no bow...and no axe.
By Matthew D'Onofrio - 5 days agoHere’s How To File A Claim For Your Part Of That $245 Million Fortnite Settlement
The FTC is now notifying people that they may be eligible.
By QuintLyn Bowers - 6 days agoNew World Teams Up With Content Creators For A "New And Returning" Player Guide
Now's a great time to jump into New World.
By Troy Blackburn - 5 days ago💣 Feature | Top 10 MMORPGs You Can Play On Steam
The best of the best MMORPG Games on Steam.
By Troy Blackburn - 1 week agoStarship Troopers: Extermination Q&A Talks Weapons & Adding Items From The Animated Movies And Even Starship Troopers 2
There's plenty of questions and answers.
By Troy Blackburn - 4 days ago
Discussion (3)