 After being tested extensively by Valve , Dota 2 was first unveiled to the public at the inaugural International event , the game 's premier eSport tournament , at Gamescom in 2011 . To coincide with the event , Valve began sending out closed beta invitations ; the first few invites were sent out shortly after Gamescom . During the event , Newell speculated that Dota 2 would likely ship in 2012 , despite original plans for a full release in late 2011 . In September 2011 , Valve scrapped its previous development and release plans , which would have kept the game in its closed beta phase for over a year . The new plans , which IceFrog revealed via an online announcement , were to begin beta testing as soon as possible and to implement the remaining heroes afterward . Simultaneously , Valve announced that the non @-@ <unk> agreement for the beta was being lifted , allowing <unk> to discuss the game and their experiences publicly . After nearly two years of beta testing , Dota 2 was officially released on Steam for Microsoft Windows on July 9 , 2013 , and later for OS X and Linux on July 18 , 2013 . Two months following the game 's release , Newell claimed that updates to Dota 2 generated up to three percent of global internet traffic . In December 2013 , the final restrictions against unlimited global access to Dota 2 were lifted after the game 's infrastructure and servers were substantially bolstered . In March 2016 , a large update fixed many long @-@ standing bugs and issues with the game , while also adding many community requested features . 
