Surprise! Dota 2 has a built-in fighting game now and it actually looks pretty good

Dota 2's Crownfall Act 3: The Frosts of Icewrack arrived last night, and along with a new overworld map, "collector's cache" items, and a new comic advancing the story, there's also a very unexpected surprise: A full-on fighting game.

Called Sleet Fighter, in keeping with the snowy theme of the expansion (and, of course, that other popular fighting game you may have heard of), the new mini-game is played from within the Dota 2 client. 

As noted by VG247, players select one of five Dota 2 heroes—Marci, Bristleback, Tusk, Vengeful Spirit and Dawnbreaker—and then square off against other characters in classic 2D fighting action.

It's not a full-blown fighting game that's going to make anyone at Capcom wake up in a cold sweat, but it does look pretty good for a surprise battle pass addition. Each character has a unique list of moves and alternate skins, and it supports both singleplayer and PvP brawling, online and locally.

Here it is in action, courtesy of the Elkun Coding channel on YouTube:

YouTube

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Some Dota 2 fans on Reddit think the Sleet Fighter surprise might be inspired by, or a reaction to, Riot's 2XKO fighting game, which is set to arrive sometime in 2025. Others suspect it's more of a test to see what kind of response it gets: If players really dig it and there's enough demand, Valve could put some real resources into the mode and spin it off as a standalone game. That strikes me as more likely, and more in line with the Valve way: Do something, see what happens, react accordingly.

If you're not currently a Dota 2 player but the prospect of a new fighting game has you curious, you can get the full lowdown on the Crownfall event at dota2.com. And you'll have a little more time to enjoy it than previously expected: Valve also announced today that, "given how much the event has grown since we initially imagined it (and how much it's still growing)," it's decided to extend the event into October.