Blizzard DOTA free-to-play though some costs will apply

StarCraft 2 mod Blizzard DOTA will be playable for free without buying a copy of the main game – but the company does have plans to monetise it.

Production director Chris Sigaty confirmed to Eurogamer that the game will be playable via the free-to-download trial version, StarCraft 2 Starter Edition. “But if you come in through the Starter Edition, there will definitely be some costs,” he said.

The Starter Edition of StarCraft 2 currently includes access to the Terran race in basic multiplayer, a few missions from the campaign and the StarJeweled official mod. “DOTA will be playable through Starter Edition as well and it’s free to play,” Sigaty said.

Sigaty couldn’t confirm plans for how players will be charged, as these are still being worked out. But the idea is that owners of StarCraft 2 and its expansions will be given some or all of this content for free.

“We haven’t really talked about exactly how [we will monetise Blizzard DOTA], we’re still looking at that, but there will be some ways,” Sigaty said. “Certainly Wings of Liberty and Heart of the Swarm will get some advantages to you in DOTA, as far as if and when we monetise it; they will give you some ins. We’re still talking about how that will work.”

We’ll have more info on Blizzard DOTA from BlizzCon shortly.