Dota 2 is played by 2 teams of 5 people. Both teams have their own base in opposite corners of the map and defend it during the game. Each of the ten players independently controls a powerful character called a hero, each with unique abilities and a different play style. The team that first destroys the central building of the enemy base wins, for this the heroes during the game try to kill the enemy heroes and supporting creatures (creeps) and destroy the defensive enemy buildings, thus gaining experience and gold for their development. If the hero dies, he is reborn after some time at the base. Despite some criticism of its steep learning curve and overall difficulty, Dota 2 has been praised for its excellent gameplay, production quality, and fidelity to its predecessor, and is considered by many to be one of the greatest video games of all time. It has been one of the most played games on Steam since its release, with over a million concurrent players at its peak. The game's popularity has led to official merchandise and media adaptations for it, including comics and anime series, as well as promotional tie-ins with other games and media. The game also allows the community to create their own game modes, maps, and cosmetics that are uploaded to the Steam Workshop. Two additional games, Artifact and Dota Underlords, were also released by Valve. Dota 2 has also been used in experiments with machine learning, with a team of bots known as the OpenAI Five showing the ability to beat professional players. Despite the war, Ukrainians donated a phenomenal amount to the prize fund of The International 11, spending more than 1.5 million US dollars on the Battle Pass (as of October 2022). Thanks to this, Ukraine not only rose to the fifth place in the world in support of TI11, but also set a kind of record of dedication to the game from Valve
