After 10 years, one of Valve's biggest games has massively expanded its map, and players can't cope

Released a decade ago, Dota 2 is, to this day, one of the most popular games on Steam, and those that play can expect some significant changes following the release of update 7.33, New Frontiers. The biggest among those, both figuratively and literally, is a 40% increase in the size of the game's map.

"The Dota map has been massively expanded," Valve explains on the official Dota 2 website. "The core objective of the game remains the same — your lanes aren't further away from each other, and everything you need to win is still in the center of the map. But with 40% more terrain, there's plenty of room to reap new resources and discover new strategies."

That's a heck of a lot more ground to cover, and Dota 2 players are, as you might expect, pretty bewildered by the news. "40% bigger map LMAO WHAT," one fan writes over on the Dota 2 subreddit. Another says, "Dota had a big map already, damn." Another concerned about the impact this will have on gameplay comments, "The map being 40% bigger is insane. The game could be totally changed."

Alongside the expanded map, Valve has included a host of major gameplay changes, including a new hero attribute type, extensive reworks to heroes like Muerta, Clinkz, Arc Warden, and Ogre Magi, as well as improvements to both matchmaking and UI. Judging by the list of changes, New Frontiers could well be the biggest patch in the game's long history, and many players have been left with the impression that it's more like a full-blown sequel than an update. "This is Dota 3 for sure!" comments one. Another writes, "I feel like this is Dota 3. I've been playing since it began, and I can't remember a patch this big."

Last month, Valve delighted fans of its iconic FPS series Counter-Strike with the announcement that a new instalment is on the way. 

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