game publication GameSpy noting the game's premise revolved around aspiring gods "[playing] DotA in real life". Feak went on to apply many of the mechanics and lessons he learned from Defense of the Ancients to the Riot Games title League of Legends. Other "DotA clones" include S2 Games' Heroes of Newerth. Blizzard Entertainment developed a game inspired by DotA titled Heroes of the Storm, which features an array of heroes from Blizzard's franchises, including numerous heroes from Warcraft III. The MOBA design DotA popularized also made its way into games that deviated from the mod's top-down perspective, such as third-person shooters and side-scrolling platformers. DotA also typified the MOBA genre's reputation for unfriendly and toxic behavior as well as a difficult learning curve for new players. Franchise In October 2009, IceFrog was hired by Valve to lead a team to develop the standalone sequel, Dota 2. The game follows heavily in the gameplay style of DotA, with aesthetics and heroes working mostly as direct ports to the original mod. In addition to the pre-conceived gameplay constants, Dota 2 also features Steam support and profile tracking, intended to emphasize and support the game's matchmaking and community. The marketing and trademark of Dota as a franchise by Valve faced opposition from the DotA Allstars contributors working at Riot Games, as well as Blizzard Entertainment, both of which legally challenged the franchising of Dota by Valve. The legal dispute was conceded in May 2012, with Valve gaining franchising rights for commercial use to the trademark, while non-commercial use remains open to the public. Dota 2 was officially released in July 2013. References External links 2003 video games Dota Esports games MacOS games Multiplayer and single-player video games Multiplayer online battle arena games Video game mods Video games developed in the United States Warcraft III Windows games