Valve has decided to shake things up for Dota 2 fans in the run-up to the game’s The International tournament in Seattle which is set to take place this summer. For the first time ever, the company will be launching a whole co-op campaign to the MOBA. It will be rolled out in two parts – the first one in May and the second, in July.
To access the multiplayer co-op campaign, you’ll have to buy the $10 Battle Pass. Valve releases this digital ticket every year and usually packs it extras such as in-game events, cosmetics, tournament predictions and other perks. A story-driven co-op mode is entirely new and likely to interest even those who may not be into Dota.
Titled ‘Siltbreaker,’ the campaign will be released as Act I this month, and as Act II in July. In it, four players (you and three others) who’ve answered the call of the Conclave of the Brine will journey to an underwater prison named Dark Reef and face whatever monsters lurk there. The $10 Battle Pass gets you one level.
You can buy your way to more levels, if you’ve got the dough. Or you can play matches to level up. There are lots of perks apart from Siltbreaker. For one, gamers win Campaign XP each time they play. Collecting enough of these points will allow them to spin the Wheel of Rewards and win an ‘exclusive Desert Sands Baby Roshan.’
The International is scheduled for August 7 to 12. Valve notes that 25% of the proceeds from Battle Pass will go into the prize pool. At the time of writing this post, it was already at a jaw dropping $7,886,258.