Valve: DOTA 2 release in 2012

Valve founder Gabe Newell has confirmed that the developer doesn't plan to release upcoming strategy game DOTA 2 until 2012 at the earliest.

This is in spite of previous plans Valve had for releasing the game this year.

An invitation-only beta is planned to follow the GamesCom 2011 show in Cologne, however.

'We'll just go into progressively wider and wider distribution. I don't think it'll be shipped until next year,' said Newell.

'[But then] with a game like this, you just keep shipping. You add new heroes. You try out new game modes. You are constantly tweaking item and hero balance. It's very much an ongoing thing.'

DOTA 2 has been playable on the show floor at GamesCom 2011, but only for teams invited to compete in Valve's tournament, called The International.

Regarding the business model that Valve will use for the game, Newell said admitted to Eurogamer that Valve 'don't have a plan'.

'For us now, this tournament is a really good step. A bunch of the features we're building in the design of Dota 2 related to being able to put on a tournament like this. There's a bunch of stat stuff. There's a bunch of website development, support for simultaneous, four-language broadcasting.'

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Check our GamesCom 2011 news hub for all the information from Cologne this year.