Beyond Dota: Movie Making

Note that all interviews were conducted over the span of several weeks.

In the past weeks and months, Dota 2 has seen a lot of mainstream media attention. The public eye was focused on the 10 Million Dollar event that was held in Seattle. The competitive side of Dota is what makes this game so popular and successful. Millions of fans around the world cheer for their favorite team to claim what can only be described as the world championship title in Dota.

It has not always been that way though. The game’s predeccessor, DotA, may have been extremely popular as well, but the competitive scene back in the day was nothing compared to today’s. People used to play for gear as prizes instead of 10 Million Dollar and you were happy if you could spark the interest of hundreds. The focused back then was more on the game, playing yourself. It was tough to reach people outside of your region due to Internet issues. DotA was global, yet it wasn’t.

At the same time, video hosting plattform YouTube was on the rise and a few players started sharing their personal clips online. To the surprise of many, these clips would hit thousands of views. What was mainly used to share “an epic frag”, “an insane Hook” or some “fascinating combo” turned into a widely spread interest. People actively looked for clips like these, being mesmerized what other people were capable of doing.

DotA had an actual video editing scene with many talents scattered around the world, highlighting their own clips or accepting submissions. Series like the famous WoDotA Top10 were born and reached viewnumbers that some streamers today still dream of. Many tried reaching the same level of popularity as WoDota did, but the Chinese Top10 series was unmatched. That’s why many others decided not to do something in a weekly style, they rather released big movies every few months.

All was good until Dota 2 dawned. Many movie makers, like players, were reluctant to make the transition. DotA was still a viable game and nobody could tell if Dota2 would turn out just like LoL or HoN. But like the players, the movie makers turned around and moved on to Dota 2.

A new player in town

But Dota 2 was a new game, with a new player in the scene. DotaCinema was one of the first YouTube channels to produce consistent Dota 2 content. Starting from hero introductions to hero guides, the channel gave people an early insight as the game was still in beta. 'My editing was bad, but people still watched.', says DotaCinema founder Neil. The viewers responded well to the amount of content the Norwegian pumped out. Dota 2 was new, not many people had a beta access so people were reliant on YouTubers to provide content.

Much like the Dota 2 fanbase, the channel grew quickly, gaining new subscribers rapidly. 'It was very important for us to get off to a good start. Growing has been our biggest challenge, but I am very proud of how far we have come.', so Neil. The continous growth turned DotaCinema quickly to the uncontested most popular Dota 2 channel.

With the addition of SUNSFan, the channel gained a voice and face that the viewers could relate to. 'I went through several commentators before I was introduced to "glhf casting" , a casting group from Heroes of Newerth including SUNSfan, Reaves and Xenocide. Their casting had personality and all of them had great voices, I then contacted all of them asking to voice my Hero Spotlights, and SUNSfan was the first to respond.'

"Any content helps with the growth of the game"

The project grew larger and larger, adapting new formats and letting go of others. Eventually DotaCinema became the Dota 2 channel to go to, adapting their own Top10 series and - whether or not they intended to - becoming the successor of WoDota, a name that seems to be only a relic of older times. When asked about the idea of WoDota making a successful transition to Dota 2, Neil saw no threat but instead would’ve welcomed the old DotA powerhouse. 'The more Dota 2 content, the better, it is great for the community to have more entertainment. Any content helps with the growth of the game, which again makes it better for everyone involved in the community.'

DotaCinema has already launched its second tournament

The current state

Not every movie maker had such a smooth start into the Dota 2 scene though. 'There were quite a few haters when I switched over to Dota 2 in the first months', says movie maker hOlyhexOr. He is not alone in that matter, a lot of movie makers hesitated to transition as most of their fanbase was still deeply rooted into DotA and both reluctant to switch as well as not able to due to the lack of a beta key.

The growing competitive scene though drew in more and more viewers and fans, creating many channels such as Dota TV Highlights or NoobFromUA, who primarily focus on providing fast and short content using in-game footage from either competitive matches or pro player's pub games. 'Nowadays we have like hundreds of small channels which just want to upload videos without any editing at all. Its sad actually', says hexOr. He himself has started to do the same, adjusting to what currently is popular and uploading many short clips from the competitive scene himself. If hexOr himself has given in to the trend, what remains of the movie making scene?

"What moviemaking scene?"

'What moviemaking scene? You got guys making some fun stuff, those doing mlg 360 420 swagscope montages, quality content channels like DC, hexor and competitive coverage channels like GosuGamers. DFX is definetely the most cinematic Dota 2 video publisher on YouTube, thats for sure, but what "moviemaking"-scene?', wonders former GosuGamers YouTube Crew lead RazingLikeNP. He seems to be right, the scene has shifted and changed a lot ever since the days of SogoVegeta or totallnewbie. There is no waiting for a big compilation, no epic movie and no amazing editing skills - or is there?

As RZNP mentioned, a lot of comedic channels have sprouted and started putting out quality content on the market. Content, that needs a certain amount of editing skill as well. Videos like "I'm the Juggernaut, Bitch", "Dota shitty digest" or the series of overedited #mlg360noscope became popular. In fact, the video series "Nigma's Shittier Digest" is able to be on par with NoobFromUA's competitive videos in terms of average video views. The reason for that is rather simple according to Nigma himself: 'There's a lot of video content in DOTA2 but in my opinion not enough in the comedy catagory. I love watching funny DOTA2 videos and so do many people.' He himself is not afraid of competition or anything, in fact he would love to see more comedic channels like his.

It seems as if editing in the traditional Dota sense is not dead after all, it has just shifted towards a different direction. The scene is split between competitive clips and comedic value, without disregarding a combination of the two.

What does the future look like?

So what is the future of video making in Dota 2? Is it financially sustainable, will "fragclips" come back or will it stick to competitive recaps and funny compilations?

It's difficult to find a clearcut answer, but it is likely that the "scene", even though some would not call it that way, will flourish even more. 'I think the movie making scene in DOTA2 is pretty great. If anything, there's room for more people', says Nigma. And it does seem to be that way with the SourceFilmMaker broadening the spectrum of content. In addition, Valve has introduced new polished camera features to the client, giving filmmakers the opportunity to improve their content. 'The free camera helps a lot, it is amazing to create videos with and it's a lot of fun to use it' praises hexOr. Obviously, there is still room for improvement as Nigma states:

'What Valve really needs to do now, however, is add full DOTA2 support to Source Filmmaker. Right now importing the map and the models is very tiresome and complicated, and the lighting is a pain, at least for me... so I hope they make that easier in the future.'

The tools are there, the materials will keep on coming with a flourishing competitive scene and custom maps also providing new content. The question remains, whether or not filmmaking is financially sustainable.

DotaCinema is the first Dota 2 related channel that was able to sustain a living from just their videos, being able to expand from just a YouTube channel to a full community hub. Others however do not strive towards such a goal.

'I have no plans to work on DOTA2 videos fulltime. For me, this is a hobby, and I think this is important for the process of making my videos. [...] It would be cool to just play video games and make videos all day, wouldn't it? As for sustainabiity... I don't think you could make enough money to live comfortably by only making DOTA2 videos, you'd have to become a DOTA2 personality at the very least. The audience is drawn to a personality, somebody who not only makes funny content but is funny outside of their content, and can attend events and whatnot.' says Nigma. Others seemed to think alike, saying it's unlikely that they would go down that path. 'Maybe in the future, who knows', notes hexOr.

Ultimately, this is all there is to say. Who knows what the future will hold, much like YouTube's skyrocketing success, the videomaking scene could have an unexpected growth in talent and viewership. There is one thing for certain though: As long as there is interest in Dota, these people will keep on entertaining us and maybe, just maybe, more and more people will be able to make a living out of it. That is the beauty of Dota - it opens up many possibilities. It is far more than just a game, and far more than just a competitive scene.