Valve Releases New Artifact Comic

Valve does a lot of things wrong. In fact, I would argue that most of what they do is wrong, and they’ve only been allowed to exist for as long as they have because they were in the right place at the right time: if Steam hadn’t been the only digital, comprehensive PC games marketplace when it was first launched, there’s no way it would have lasted for as long as it had. But that’s not to say they don’t do anything right: when they feel inclined to actually make games they tend to turn out pretty good. And when they make comics – usually to promote a video game – they tend to turn out phenomenal

And with the release of Artifact coming up, and Valve in need to promote it, they’ve decided to release two comics – called “prelude” (which is out now) and “Call to Arms” (which is due later this week) – to both get people hyped for the game, and equally as interesting, to bridge the lore gap between DOTA 2 and Artifact.

Yes, it’s easy to forget, but DOTA 2 actually has some pretty comprehensive lore that has been explored in the past (also through comics) and Artifact, indeed, intends to be an extension of it. Heck, you might even call it something of a sequel, as Valve promises that the comics will act as a “series of events that will transform the world of DOTA forever”.

How that actually translates into gameplay, if at all, has yet to be seen. Although since the game launches tomorrow (November 28) I suppose we’ll find out then.

If this is enough to get people to forget about the many, many ways this game seems intent on bleeding their wallets dry, on the other hand? I very much doubt that. But free comics are cool all the same.