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Dota 3 is, unbelievably, the latest Epic Games Store exclusive

In a move almost too ridiculous to be true, Valve's iconic MOBA is heading to the Epic Games store

Dota 3

Epic Games has put another point on the board in the ongoing war with Steam, announcing that Dota 3 will launch exclusively on the Epic Games Store this year. Fans’ excitement peaked when we learned that Valve would finally be making a third game in any given series, but that excitement has quickly turned to confusion when the game disappeared from the Steam store and reappeared on its competitor.

Valve Software’s Gabe Newell angrily put out a press release, accusing the Dota 3 developers of “taking his pre-order money” when they “were quietly negotiating an exclusivity arrangement behind the scenes”. “We need to put an end to these kind of exclusives,” Newell cried. “It’s not good for the industry. What is good for the industry is releasing every game on Steam, constantly, until the end of time – especially our games!”

The former Valve Software-turned-Epic Games development team suggested that one of the reasons they were willing to strike an exclusivity arrangement was “because we get a lot more money out of it.”

“I recognise that it may not be convenient for some people to install an extra launcher,” one Dota 3 network engineer said, “but it turns out that it’s quite convenient for me to have the extra cash.”

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At press time, one individual had taken advantage of Steam Direct to upload a game to the Steam store called “Real Dota 3” that was just a bitcoin miner and ransomware hack, which Valve is currently considering banning “depending on how well it does”.