DOTA is currently in safe hands with Valve at the helm, with the hugely popular MOBA evolving into other forms of media to showcase its lore and characters. DOTA: Dragon's Blood is a Netflix animated series which had a hugely successful debut, with the recent announcement that a second season is now in the works.
DOTA: Dragon’s Blood saw the original game’s characters adopt an anime aesthetic, which proved popular enough for Valve to remodel DOTA 2’s tutorial experience. The developer expected happy viewers of the animation to visit the source material afterwards, and wanted the experience to be as welcoming as possible. A new tutorial mode, player mode, and guided store experience were customized with new players in mind, alleviating the intimidating feeling of starting a new, expansive game. This experience is far from over as a second season of the animation now sits on the horizon.
The official DOTA 2 Twitter account posted the news that “Book 2” was imminent, confirming that a second season of DOTA: Dragon’s Blood was indeed in the pipeline. Season one focused on main characters Davion the Dragon Knight and Mirana the Princess of the Moon, and also included DOTA favorites Terrorblade and Invoker. No season 2 plot details nor characters have been teased for the show’s succeeding adventure, but some fans believe that a trailer will debut at this year’s The International - DOTA 2’s annual esports event.
The DOTA franchise, particularly DOTA 2, is a heavyweight in esports, and Valve’s documentary framing The International and its players has also arrived on Netflix. Free To Play debuted back in 2014, produced by the American developer, and has now found a much larger platform with Netflix to accompany the first season of Dragon’s Blood. The documentary is a glimpse behind the veil of competitive esports, and highlights the pressures involved for three of DOTA’s professional players.
Back on the gaming front, DOTA 2’s recent Patch 7.29 added new hero Dawnbreaker to the mix, and we have compiled a guide on how to play the melee Carry with her Celestial Hammer.