Valve is stopping Dota 2 Arcade monetisation

It seems Valve is planning to overhaul Dota 2. They recently changed the format of The International. There are also rumours about it featuring a much higher initial prize pool. Recently, Valve took a massive step towards this. They are making Dota 2 Arcade commercial free by late August, impacting the developers.

Dota 2 Arcade brings thousands of casual players daily with their friends who are looking to have some fun. However, the newly imposed rule may destroy its fragile ecosystem.

What & How Important is Dota 2 Arcade? 

Unlike the official game modes made by Valve in Dota 2, Dota 2 Arcade features mini-games made by community developers. Some arcade games gained a massive following, spawning their standalone version. Dota Chess gained millions of followers and inspired Valve to give its stand-alone version of the game called Dota Underlords. Interestingly, this came after the unsuccessful release of a standalone Dota card game, Artifact.

Arcade played a crucial role for players wanting to improve their skills. Custom games like Training Polygon offers players to train their Manta Doding abilities or Ember Spirit’s Sleight of Fist dodging abilities,  playing a crucial role as in-game mechanics. Players also play arcades to kill some time while waiting for their friends to come online. Arcade also played a pivotal role for professional players. Some players use it as a warm-up before their official matches or training.

The Monetization

Recently, a community developer revealed he received a letter from Valve to stop all forms of monetisation as the license provided for DOTA Workshop tools is strictly non-commercial. According to him, Valve lawyers sent the email out to the custom game developers, asking them to stop all types of monetisation by August 17th at the latest. The monetisation includes third-party payments such as battle passes, subscriptions, cosmetics, etc.

Community Developers’ Response

The letter came as a surprise to many community developers. Most developers monetise their products, giving the players in-game perks in return. The community developers discontinued their products as Valve plans to make Dota 2 arcade commercial free by August 17 as a form of protest. Some developers have also voiced their opinions on Reddit.

Shannon "SUNSfan" Scotten, a beloved talent and one of the community developers, took to Twitter to announce the discontinuation of Ability Arena. Another community developer also took to Reddit, pleading with Valve to find an alternate solution.

The Flip side of the Coin

Although Dota 2 Arcade getting shut down does not make everyone content, some are glad it happened. Arcade games usually let players hide behind a paywall to win their games which is the opposite of what Dota 2 is. Since its release, Dota 2 has been a free-to-play game, and Valve intends to continue doing so. This action has its pro and cons. However, if Dota 2 Arcade is gone, it could seriously impact the game.

Featured Image Source: Valve