According to the Netflix press release, the DOTA anime series will tell the “story of Davion, a renowned Dragon Knight devoted to wiping the scourge from the face of the world.” In addition to a fantasy story revolving around Davion, the story will also reportedly feature many heroes that have been introduced already from Dota 2, as well as upcoming ones. This includes, among many others, Princess Mirana, who is implied to have a significant role in the series as well. Studio MIR was tapped to anime the DOTA anime series. The studio previously worked on popular hit series, The Legend of Korra, as well as Netflix’s very own Voltron: Legendary Defender. Also in the fold is the showrunner, Ashley Edward Miller, who’d worked on the likes of X-Men: First Class and Terminator: The Sarrah Connor Chronicles, among others. The new DOTA anime series will air on March 25 with a tease trailer and main trailer expected to release on February 19 and March 2, respectively.
What is DOTA?
Valve released Dota 2 to the public in 2013 after going through an extensive open beta and closed beta period. Dota 2 is a free-to-play MOBA title that serves as the official sequel to the Defense of the Ancients (DOTA) mod that was developed over a period of a decade or more by multiple developers for Blizzard’s Warcraft III: Reign of Chaos and The Frozen Throne. DOTA is widely considered as the progenitor of the MOBA genre. However, its sequel, Dota 2, has not been as popular as it once was. Although the game still holds the record for having the largest prize pool in esports history, the player count has dwindled steadily. Valve is most likely trying to inject new life into their aging title with the release of the new DOTA anime series in conjunction with releasing hero updates through the year instead of releasing them all in one huge update. In addition to Dota 2 and Valve, Riot is also working on having a new TV show released for their own free-to-play MOBA, League of Legends. Titled Arcane, the show was originally slated to air in 2021. However, due to the pandemic, the series’ release was delayed and re-scheduled to come out sometime later this year 2021 instead.
