Dota 2 Research

For the start of this week I did some research into people that have been creating items for the game dota 2 and how much money they make from doing it. one article claims that you can "make a living" by doing this. The business model adapted by dota 2 is similar to how the business model works for team fortress 2 which currently sells hats as in game cosmetic items which players buy. Except dota goes about it by letting people create a set of armour for any character they like in game. There was a competition held by valve on polycount which was stated to have a winning cash sum of $45,000 to the winners. so there is some serious money in the area. There are also threads on polycount which are monthly challenges for people to create a certain in game item for a character, This gives people the opportunity to practice making an item for a character without the pressure of having to make a whole set and with the guidance of other people.

here is an example of one of the threads : http://www.polycount.com/forum/showthread.php?t=130739

Here is the article below which I read about : http://uk.ign.com/articles/2013/04/16/how-to-make-a-living-selling-virtual-hats

Here is a short video of someone showing a insight of the process they use when making a set for the game. using zbrush and then texturing the asset in Photoshop.