Mon, May 14, 2012 | 03:52 BST
Valve and Blizzard settle dispute over use of DOTA
Blizzard and Valve have announced a mutual agreement over the use of DOTA. Valve will continue to use DOTA commercially, while Blizzard’s DOTA will be called Blizzard All-Stars.
Defence of the Ancients is a Warcraft III map created by modders and in February, Blizzard challenged Valve’s right to use the title DOTA 2 as the title of its MOBA game.
The case was brought to the attention of the US Patent and Trademark Office’s Trial and Appeal Board by Blizzard where it sought to challenge Valve’s right to trademark the word DOTA.
“Both Blizzard and Valve recognize that, at the end of the day, players just want to be able to play the games they’re looking forward to, so we’re happy to come to an agreement that helps both of us stay focused on that,” said Rob Pardo, executive vice president of game design at Blizzard Entertainment.
“As part of this agreement, we’re going to be changing the name of Blizzard DOTA to Blizzard All-Stars, which ultimately better reflects the design of our game. We look forward to going into more detail on that at a later date.”
“We’re pleased that we could come to an agreement with Blizzard without drawing things out in a way that would benefit no one,” said Gabe Newell, president and co-founder of Valve. “We both want to focus on the things our fans care about, creating and shipping great games for our communities.”
Under the agreement, Blizzard will preserve noncommercial use of DOTA for its community “with regard to player-created maps for Warcraft III and StarCraft II.”
The companies do not plan to discuss the terms of the agreement beyond today’s announcement.
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Posted in: Activision Blizzard, MOBA, PC, Valve
Tags: Blizzard All Stars, Defense of the Ancients, DotA, DOTA 2
26 comments
#1
jacobvandy
11/05/12, 9:59 pm
Blizzard got owned.
#2
The_Red
11/05/12, 10:05 pm
“Blizzard All-Stars”?
Seriously? Playstation All-Stars was bad enough and now we have to suffer another horrible and Wrestling like name?
#3
Lord Gremlin
11/05/12, 10:19 pm
@1 Word. And Valve are really dicks in this situation…
#4
TMRNetShark
11/05/12, 10:25 pm
@2 Your seriously gonna complain? A name of game never meant it was good or bad. Serious Sam is not a very serious game. I returned to Castle Wolfenstein… ONCE. I was never really Doomed in Doom. I definitely got more than one life and a Hazard suit in Half Life. There was always more than one “Halo”. There is no more Duty in Call of Duty (just revenge… all the god damn time). No one really made a difference in Mass Effect (ironically). Zelda never really mattered in ANY of the games (should be called the Legened of Link!). Final Fantasy should really be “this is shit we’ve done before!” cliche, cliche, cliche.
I will admit, Grand Theft Auto got their game’s name right. Walk out from your safe house and BAM… steal a car. Story mission done? BAM… steal a car. Got 5 or 6 stars and wants some wheels? BAM… steal a car (preferably a cop car).
#5
someguy2
11/05/12, 10:29 pm
@4 The name Half-Life references the physics term half-life which is how long it takes for a substance to decay by half (I think). Since you play a physicist in Half-Life, I think the name makes sense.
#6
Ireland Michael
11/05/12, 10:31 pm
@5 I think you missed the whole point completely.
#7
KrazyKraut
11/05/12, 10:32 pm
Doctor…we need this big injection with valium for Mr. TMRNetShark please.
What..? No, directly in his bubble butt please.
#8
Yoshi
11/05/12, 10:36 pm
Looks like Bliz got slapped in the face. Good one for Valve
#9
TheWulf
11/05/12, 10:38 pm
@6
As a casual bystander, I’d say that the point he supposedly missed is laboured, specious, and confused to begin with.
#10
TheWulf
11/05/12, 10:39 pm
@8
Looks like. Which is amusing.
#11
Talkar
11/05/12, 11:00 pm
I’m happy they resolved this. Although i personally think that neither should use the name Dota since it is a community made map…
#12
Strawb
12/05/12, 12:53 am
@11
Counter-Strike was originally a community-made mod as well, but if the name fits, there’s no reason not to use it. DotA is a name that means something to most people who have played Warcraft, and possibly many who haven’t. I would be confused if they didn’t try to get in on some of the marketing of the name alone.
I’m surprised Blizzard would let this one go, considering the original map was created for their game. Then again, Valve does have IceFrog working for them…
#13
The_Red
12/05/12, 8:25 am
@4
You missed my point completely. It’s not about point of names. “Blizzard All-stars” or “Playstation All-stars” actually make sense. The problem is that they’re horrible names. Half-Life, Legend of Zelda and Halo are decent and sometimes memorable names.
The opposite is Modern Warfare which makes senses but is a HORRIBLE name. I’m talking about finding good names for games, not how much they make sense regarding the gameplay or story. “X All-Star” is simply a bad wrestling title, something that I expect from an annoying WWE promotional.
#14
Talkar
12/05/12, 8:30 am
@12
I also think it is wrong of them to use Counter-Strike xD
But in the end, if someone had to use the name Dota, i would have to side with Blizz on it. as blizz said about 6 months ago:
“DOTA is built upon the Warcraft III game engine, interface, and gameplay mechanics; that is comprised of Warcraft III characters, items, spells, artwork, textures, and color palates; that can be played only using Warcraft III software and via Blizzard’s online service Battle.net ; and whose name (DOTA, an acronym for “Defense of the Ancients”) is a reference to Warcraft III characters known as the Ancients.”
Now, when DOTA 2 is released, and if it gets really popular (which i think it will), don’t you think that a lot of people will say that DOTA is a Valve product, when it isn’t?
Furthermore the terms of service, or whatever they’re called, clearly states that anything made within the WarCraft 3 world editor, is the IP of Blizzard Entertainment. (this is pretty standard for map editor tools) . In fact, once you’ve made something in the world editor, the EULA even goes as far as to say that you can’t create a standalone product of it later. So i really don’t see why Blizz backed out, or why Valve are so arrogant as to disregard all of this legal stuff -1 for Valve in my book.
#15
Vannubsauce
12/05/12, 10:47 am
It’s good to see that a peaceful resolution was made. Having the creator and current/longest-serving developer backed by the expertise of the team at Valve gives them more than enough talent to be able to appease long time Dota players like myself. It’s not even out yet and feels exactly like the Dota I was playing for so many years (but a whole lot more polished and immersive).
@14 – The modders who came up with Counter Strike were hired by Valve and hold jobs there. The same is the case for the creator and current developer of Dota. Also the EULA isn’t as simple as that you know… You are hating on Valve for actually providing proper and fair employment opportunities for the creator and current developer of Dota??? What did Blizzard ever do for them? Also, Dota 2 uses Valve’s own Source engine and the characters have their own Dota 2 lore.
#16
MidlifeAxe
12/05/12, 10:58 am
Quite a good outcome. At least it didn’t end up in a load of lengthy, costly lawsuits.
#17
Talkar
12/05/12, 11:09 am
@15
Icefrog isn’t the creator of DOTA.
#18
Freek
12/05/12, 11:32 am
Both parties got what they wanted. Blizzard modders can still make DOTA games without getting seud by Valve and Valve can use the name DOTA 2 for it’s commercial game.
The reason why all this is so dubiouse is because DOTA is as much a genre discription as it is a game. And unlike other buy outs, Valve hasn’t bought the studio that made DOTA(1) , they just hired a guy who worked on it. Odd to assume you then also get the name.
#19
jacobvandy
12/05/12, 11:57 am
@17 The point is moot, as the actual creator ‘Eul’ also works at Valve. Might not have been clear in his comment, but he was referring to two people.
#20
Talkar
12/05/12, 12:14 pm
@19
Well, he was contracted. Not exactly a permanent position.
#21
blackdreamhunk
12/05/12, 7:02 pm
I think that valve and blizzard did the right thing going to court over the issue would have made the companies look greedy.
#22
RASMUSV
12/05/12, 8:03 pm
Does anyone have spare keys, really want one!
#23
zayn
12/05/12, 8:45 pm
Do someone have a key over that i can get? I REALLY WANT ONE <3 steam name: anton747122 PLEASE A KEY <3
#24
back_up
13/05/12, 4:34 pm
valve is best
PC gamers lost exclusive steam hehehe
#25
TheBlackHole
14/05/12, 9:54 am
I’m starting to dislike the way Valve are conducting themselves.
It’s probably unwarranted, but personally I don’t think either should be able to use the name, but if either had to I would have sided with Activision.
This pretty much sums it up…
“DOTA is built upon the Warcraft III game engine, interface, and gameplay mechanics; that is comprised of Warcraft III characters, items, spells, artwork, textures, and color palates; that can be played only using Warcraft III software and via Blizzard’s online service Battle.net”
#26
jonyd85
14/05/12, 7:37 pm
Dota 2 is best, if u need key visit getkeyy.com