Today, Valve announced that its much-anticipated Dota 2 will be free-to-play, and garner revenue through microtransactions in an in-game store.

The move was revealed on the official Dota 2 blog. The post went to lengths to disabuse gamers of the notion that they will be nickel-and-dimed to death in order to succeed in the game, as is the case with some free-to-play games, saying, "Dota 2 will not be a pay-to-win game. All the items in the store are cosmetic, and don’t affect gameplay…. All of the heroes will be available free of charge. We believe restricting player access to heroes could be destructive to game design, so it’s something we plan to avoid."

There is also a new FAQ on the Dota 2 site that answers a number of other questions you might have about the game going free-to-play.

To register to receive an invite to the ongoing Dota 2 beta, click here.