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Although DOTA was a new game produced by Nebula Games,

before its release, neither players nor the gaming industry had been quite sure what to make of it.

There were many reasons for that: Warcraft RPG maps, gameplay mechanics that were hard to make out... If it had not been made by Nebula Games, it probably would not have caused much of a stir in gaming circles.

Yet one week after DOTA launched, its explosive growth caught many game designers in the industry by surprise.

With extensive promotion, DOTA had spread throughout every type of gaming audience.

Its free-to-play model, Tutorial systems far more beginner-friendly than those of the previous world, and its generous giveaways of all kinds of cosmetics and strategies had drawn countless players into this massive pit.

Especially one week after launch, Nebula Games surprised all players by announcing a reverse delay. They said the game would transition seamlessly into its official release after the non-wipe test ended, with additional related events to come in subsequent updates. This immediately gave players something to look forward to.

Beyond Nebula Games' promotion, the more important reason was that more and more players had experienced DOTA's appeal.

Setting aside competition and all the tactical elements, just in terms of the positive feedback it provided, DOTA was actually much like MMORPGs such as World of Warcraft.

That was the sense of achievement brought by numbers, social interaction, and the novelty of exploration.

For traditional MMORPGs, those were the main Core Points.

Players spent day after day grinding dungeons for gear and taking part in faction and guild events. Those were where MMORPGs found their fun, except games like MMORPGs required an enormous investment of time.

DOTA was different. A match lasted around twenty-five to forty-five minutes, yet it condensed all those