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Valve Trademarks 'DOTA'

Posted by Soulskill on from the vi-sitter-i-ventrilo dept.

An anonymous reader tips news that Valve Software has filed a trademark claim for the term "DOTA," fueling speculation that the company will soon reveal a new Defense of the Ancients game. Voice actor John St. John recently said he was recording for such a game in a post to Twitter. The tweet was subsequently deleted. Last year Valve hired 'Icefrog,' lead developer for the original DotA mod.

10 of 141 comments (clear)

  1. Re:dota by omgarthas · · Score: 4, Insightful

    I get your point, but the clerk and the store didn't hand me a copy of Warcraft 3 for free

  2. Business model by Issarlk · · Score: 5, Insightful

    1 - choose a popular mod to an existing game.
    2 - hire the devs
    3 - release standalone Steam version
    4 - PROFIT!

    1. Re:Business model by Netshroud · · Score: 5, Informative
      That's exactly their business model.
      • Counter-Strike
      • Day of Defeat
      • Team Fortress 2
      • Alien Swarm
      • Portal

      It doesn't surprise me in the least,

    2. Re:Business model by Winckle · · Score: 5, Interesting

      Hey it's a sound business model that results in quality polished games. Can't knock them for it. :)

    3. Re:Business model by wynterwynd · · Score: 4, Insightful

      Except technically speaking, Portal was not a mod. It was based off of a proof-of-concept puzzle game called Narbacular Drop.

      Other than that, yep.

      I can't see it as anything but good for gaming. Gamers know what gamers want and so far the groundswell approach they use has produced some truly great games.

      --
      "Not all who wander are lost" -- JRR Tolkien
    4. Re:Business model by Shanrak · · Score: 5, Insightful

      Every additional download of steam (which is required for alien swarm) means an additional exposure to some of their weekend and special sales. Its an excellent way of getting your advertising out, and at the same time it inflates steam user count so it shows publishers how big of a customer base they are losing if they choose to not publish on steam.

      --
      This post may or may not contain cancer causing materials.
  3. Summary is wrong, as usual by Tridus · · Score: 5, Informative

    Icefrog is NOT the original developer. I don't know where that nonsense keeps coming from.

    The original developer is named Eul, and he made it way back before The Frozen Throne came out. He then stopped supporting it. Guinsoo then made DotA Allstars. Icefrog took that over at version 6, and is the current maintainer.

    I don't know how you go from "second maintainer of a remake" to "original author", but it's amazing how fast that spread around the Internet.

    --
    -- "So they told me that using the download page to download something was not something they anticipated." - Bill Gates
  4. Re:At first I was angry by Tridus · · Score: 4, Interesting

    Except they don't. They have the second maintainer of DotA Allstars on board (the original developer of that worked on League of Legends). DotA itself was made by yet another person who isn't involved in either of them.

    I'd love to know how you trademark something made by someone else and which someone else has already used on released games.

    --
    -- "So they told me that using the download page to download something was not something they anticipated." - Bill Gates
  5. Re:Ok but... by Pharmboy · · Score: 5, Informative

    What about Half Life? Is this franchise dead or something?

    I doubt it, they are supposedly working on the last Episode, but I'm not shocked that it is taking so long. Remember, whatever happens in the last episode, it sets the stage for the next game. You don't want to kill off people who would be handy later on. The franchise is still very popular, very profitable, and the highest ranking games on Metacritic's website. The rumors of the franchise's death have been greatly exaggerated.

    They are talking about making the last episode much scarier, which I think is the right thing to do. I remember the first Half-life literally giving me chill bumps, and making me jump with the head crabs and other assorted critters. The last interview that Gabe gave on it (that I am aware of) was a few months ago: http://multiplayerblog.mtv.com/2010/03/26/valve-wants-their-next-half-life-to-scare-you/

    --
    Tequila: It's not just for breakfast anymore!
  6. Re:Ok but... by bcat24 · · Score: 4, Funny

    What about Half Life? Is this franchise dead or something?

    I'm afraid the franchise has reached its half-life.

    So it's only mostly dead? There's a big difference between mostly dead and all dead. Mostly dead is slightly alive. With all dead, well, with all dead there's usually only one thing you can do.