Valve announced it will release its Dota 2 movie, "Free to Play", for free through Steam on March 19. The documentary, which was made in-house by Valve, will explore the lives of several professional players of the hit MOBA (multiplayer online battle arena) game, as they prepare for and enter the Dota 2 International Tournament.
Dota 2 is, as the name of the documentary implies, a totally free-to-play game released as a follow up to the original Dota, which started as a mod for the game Warcraft III: The Frozen Throne.
Released just last summer, the game has over seven million players monthly according to Valve. For the movie, the focus will be on Ukrainian Danil "Dendi" Ishutin, Singaporean Benedict "HyHy" Lim and American Clinton "Fear" Loomis.
Dendi, a 24 year old male, and his team Natus Vincere have won over $2,080,000 in prize money since 2011. Roughly $1,880,000 of those winnings were from the International tournaments, for winning first place at the inaugural event for $1,000,000 in prize money and second place at the second and third iterations of the tournament.
This first place million dollar tournament is the subject of "Free to Play". Hyhy has achieved third and fifth place finishes at The International 2011 and 2012, while Fear has finished seventh before suffering an early knockout the next year.
Valve will release a Free to Play pack on Steam containing items for Dota 2, with 25 percent of proceeds going towards the contributors to the film and the three players who star in it. An advanced screening of the film will be held in San Francisco on March 18 at the Castro Theater, so look for it if you're in the area. Below is the great official trailer for the documentary.
