Fans got more than they were expecting with a new update to Dota 2 that includes the Dota VR Hub.
Back in April, Valve hinted that a VR spectator mode for Dota 2 would be coming soon on Steam VR. The short video clip teased the ability to watch gameplay on a virtual theater screen, view a 3D minimap of realtime gameplay and stand next to full-sized hereos.
At the time, we were already impressed with the potential a VR mode could have to spectating eSports in the future, especially with groups of friends or even large virtual stadiums during tournaments.
Now the developers of the massively popular free-to-play MOBA game is surprising us all, letting you not only watch Dota 2 in a virtual theater but also immerse yourself into the game itself.
That’s right — you can jump into the minimap and watch from a bird’s-eye view or plant your feet on the ground to watch the battles rage around you at full scale!
If you’re a Dota 2 fan without a VR headset, this is probably the time to get up and start pestering your friend who already owns a HTC Vive to let you try.
Even if you’re not a Dota 2 fan, its hard not to get excited about being able to spectate gameplay with your friends — and with the tap of a button, transport yourself into the game to see the action life-sized.
When you initially load up Dota VR Hub, you’ll be dropped into a menu world with many familiar in-game structures. You can teleport yourself around this virtual main menu by pointing your hand-controller in the direction you’d like to move.
After you’re done teleporting around to chase a wild bunny, you can select from either “Hero Showcase,” “Join a Spectator Lobby,” or “Create a Spectator Lobby.” The “Hero Showcase” drops you into a monumental space, allowing you to select from a range of life-size heroes that appear in front of you. But joining or creating a spectator lobby is where the real magic happens.
When in a spectator lobby, you’re confronted with a giant virtual theater screen that you can select to watch other live Dota 2 games. Whether selecting a live match, replay, or even tournament gameplay, your lobby will be immediately transformed. The virtual theater screen will now show all the game action, a minimap floats in front of you, and all the player’s heroes are on display with health and mana bars visible.
You can then select anywhere on the minimap and you’re transported into the game. Starting off as a birds-eye view, you can click around in the game, transporting yourself to wherever you please. Look at your left-hand controller and you can toggle your scale, shrinking yourself down to ground level to watch that mid-lane action play out around you as if you’re a hero.
This makes spectating multiplayer games so much better.
Its definitely worth trying out for yourself, but keep in mind this is just a beta and the developers will be continuing to improve the experience over time.
So how do you install Dota VR Hub?
- Install Dota 2 on Steam.
- In your Steam Library, select Dota 2.
- Under the DLC section of the library page, click the checkbox to enable the Dota VR Hub.
How do you run the Dota VR Hub?
When running from the desktop, run Dota 2 as normal. A popup will appear that lets you choose whether to run Dota 2 or the Dota VR Hub. If running from within SteamVR, Dota VR will automatically boot when you choose “Play in VR”.
What are the system requirements for running the Dota VR Hub?
- A SteamVR capable headset with tracked controllers.
- GPU: A NVIDIA GeForce® GTX 970, AMD Radeon™ R9 290 equivalent or better
- CPU: Intel® Core™ i7-3930K Processor equivalent or better
Image Credit: Dota 2 &TimmyTonka via YouTube