Dota is 20 years old and the game is somehow stronger than ever

The first version of Dota was released 20 years ago on Dec. 27 by Kyle “Eul” Sommer.

When Dota’s founding father published what would become a global phenomenon, only a handful of players joined the servers to play the game mode. But over the last two decades, Dota has evolved from a mod into a fully-fledged game, Dota 2, that’s home to The International, one of the most prestigious esports events. Though Dota 2 has continued the tradition with the help of IceFrog, the lead developer of the game, it’s also run into a fair share of problems.