 As part of a plan to develop Dota 2 into a social network , Newell announced in April 2012 that the game would be free @-@ to @-@ play , and that community contributions would be a cornerstone feature . That June , the Dota 2 team confirmed that the full roster of heroes and items would remain available without charge . Instead , revenue is generated through the Dota Store , which offers for @-@ purchase exclusively cosmetic virtual goods , including custom clothing and weapons for their heroes , along with music packs by notable artists such as electronic music artist deadmau5 , Taiwanese songwriter JJ Lin , and video game composers Chance Thomas , Jeremy Soule , and Lennie Moore . Until the game 's official release in 2013 , players were able to purchase an early access bundle , which included a digital copy of Dota 2 and several cosmetic items . Included as optional downloadable content ( DLC ) , the Dota 2 Workshop Tools are a set of Source 2 software development kit ( SDK ) tools that allow content creators to create new cosmetics for the heroes themselves , as well as custom game modes and maps . Highly rated cosmetics , through the Steam Workshop , are available in the in @-@ game store if they are accepted by Valve . This model was fashioned after that of Valve 's Team Fortress 2 , which had earned Workshop designers of cosmetic items of that game over $ 3 @.@ 5 million by June 2011 . In January 2014 , Newell revealed that the average Steam Workshop contributor for Dota 2 and Team Fortess 2 made approximately $ 15 @,@ 000 from their creations the previous year . In 2015 , sales of Dota 2 cosmetics had earned Valve over $ 238 million in revenue , according to the digital game market research group SuperData . 
 As part of a plan to develop Dota 2 into a social network , Newell announced in April 2012 that the game would be free @-@ to @-@ play , and that community contributions would be a cornerstone feature . That June , the Dota 2 team<a href='been_done' title='1'><mark></mark></a> confirmed that the full roster of heroes and items would remain available without charge . Instead , revenue is generated through the Dota Store , which <a href='uninflect' title='2'><mark>offers</mark></a> for @-@ purchase exclusively cosmetic virtual goods , including custom clothing and weapons for their heroes , along with music packs by notable artists such as electronic music artist deadmau5 , Taiwanese songwriter JJ Lin , and video game composers Chance Thomas , Jeremy Soule , and Lennie Moore . Until the game <a href='null_genetive' title='3'><mark>'s</mark></a>official release in 2013 , players <a href='uninflect' title='4'><mark>were</mark></a> able to purchase an early access bundle , which included a digital copy of Dota 2 and several cosmetic items . Included as optional downloadable content ( DLC ) , the Dota 2 Workshop Tools <a href='drop_aux' title='5'><mark>are</mark></a>a set of Source 2 software development kit ( SDK ) tools <a href='null_relcl' title='6'><mark>that</mark></a>allow content creators to create new cosmetics for the heroes themselves , as well as custom game modes and maps . Highly rated cosmetics , through the Steam Workshop , <a href='drop_aux' title='7'><mark>are</mark></a>available in the in @-@ game store if they are accepted by Valve . This model was fashioned after that of Valve <a href='null_genetive' title='8'><mark>'s</mark></a>Team Fortress 2 , which <a href='been_done' title='9'><mark>had</mark></a> earned Workshop designers of cosmetic items of that game over $ 3 @.@ 5 million by June 2011 . In January 2014 , Newell revealed that the average Steam Workshop contributor for Dota 2 and Team Fortess 2<a href='been_done' title='10'><mark></mark></a> made approximately $ 15 @,@ 000 from their creations the previous year . In 2015 , sales of Dota 2 cosmetics <a href='been_done' title='11'><mark>had</mark></a> earned Valve over $ 238 million in revenue , according to the digital game market research group SuperData . 
As part of a plan to develop Dota 2 into a social network , Newell announced in April 2012 that da game would b free @-@ to @-@ play , and dat community contributions would bba cornerstone feature . TdatJune , the Dota 2 team been confirmed that tdafull roster of heroes and items would remain available without charge . Instead , revenue is generated through thdaota Store , which offer fa @-@ purchase exclusively cosmetic virtual goods , including custom clothing and weapons for their heroes , along with music packs by notable artists such as electronic music artist deadmau5 , Taiwanese songwriter JJ Lin , and video game composers Chance Thomas , Jeremy Soule , and Lennie Moore . Until thedame  official release in 2013 , players was able to purchase an early access bundle , which included a digital copy of Dota 2 and several cosmetic items . Included as optional downloadable content ( DLC ) , the daa 2 Workshop Tools a set of Source 2 software development kit ( SDK ) tools allow content creators to create new cosmetics for the hdaes themselves , as well as custom game modes and maps . Highly rated cosmetics , thru the Stda Workshop , available in the in da game store if they are accepted by Valve . This model was fashioned after thdatf Valve  Team Fortress 2 , which done earned Workshop designers of cosmetic items of that game over $ 3 @.@ 5 million by June 2011 . In January 2014 , Newell revealed that the average Steam Workshop contributor for Dota 2 and Team Fortess 2 done made approximately $ 15 @,@ 000 from their creations the previous year . In 2015 , sales of Dota 2 cosmetics done earned Valve over $ 238 million in revenue , according to the digital game market research group SuperData .