League of Legends

[Kaden]

I really like that LoL is going a different direction, and I'm pleased that the other games will help draw out the players who play the game for lack of an alternative with a tendency to show their malcontent.

This.

Will DotA2 succeed? Yes, of course. Between the labels of DotA and Valve, it will just fine. Ironically, the popularity of LoL is going to do wonders for the branding of "DotA2." Valve gets free publicity simply because LoL exists.

Will DotA2 have a significant impact on Riot? Probably not to a relevant degree. Yes, there will be an initial wave of people flocking to DotA. Yes, some people will leave LoL for good. The people who spend money on LoL, though, are going to keep spending money on LoL.

Riot absolutely made the correct choice in saying "ok, DotA is a thing, and we're using it for a base, but LoL is not going to be DotA." There is plenty of room for both games in the market. I just hope that DotA2 does better than HoN (and I'm pretty confident it will) because some degree of serious competition will be good for Riot.