This past week the Dota 2 staff saw fit to roll out the first major Dota 2 update designed with high-end tournament play in mind, with a reminder that while the Dota game has always seen end play it never really had in-game features to assist players.
The Dota staff made a note of how popular it has become to watch streams of high level matches, and felt the need to reach out not only to players but to viewers as well with this update. With the apparent success of the Steam Workshop connecting designers with players after being introduced to the community, the Dota team is making an effort to do the same with professional players, organizers, and fans with this new update.
The first item discussed in this release is the inclusion of a client-side tournament viewer. Essentially, players will now be able to stream current or past tournament games for what the staff is calling a small fee. So I suppose they are trying to make a buck or two from players who really want to see their favorite pros play. They seem to be supporting what you pay though, as for any tournament you have bought you will be able to find a complete report on any match inside it as well as be able to watch any part of any match of the tourney you paid for inside the Dota client.
On top of the features offered for paying, the Dota staff claims that the money earned by each tournament will be ‘shared’ with the organizers of the tournament. Whether this makes it to the hands of tournament players was not specified, but really the inclusion of an in-game match viewer is something never heard of in Dota before.
The first tournament available for purchase, sort of like a beta testing for this ideal, is The Defense. If it works out, they say they will roll the feature out for all past and future tourneys as “helping tournaments become more financially stable helps all the players participating in them”
Example of the in-game tournament window to select what to view
Viewable Games of “The Defense”
The Staff go on record to say that their goal is not to replace web-based streams as they themselves are fans and will continue to support them however they can. After all, they mention that some customers will always want to be able to use a web browser to spectate matches but they hope the majority will help the community by investing in a program that offers more control over what it is they’re watching- the Dota client viewer.
All in all I think the release of a client based viewer seems to have been lifted right the hands of another MOBA type company, but with the inclusion of the ability to watch older tournaments and current tournaments in-game as opposed to just one live match I think we have a clear winner.
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About the author: Kinowolf |
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