Valve’s new Dota 2 ‘Avoid Player’ feature is only available via $10 battle pass

Valve has introduced new measures to enable Dota 2 players to avoid toxic players but has bundled the feature into a new $10 Battle Pass.

As reported by The Verge, while the base game is free-to-play, the premium battle passes typically offer cosmetic and optional items. Now, however, it has included a new “experimental” Avoid Player feature that can only be unlocked for players prepared to pay $10.

“Not all players and playstyles work well together,” Valve says in the feature description. “To help keep your team chemistry balanced and fun, we’ve added an experimental Avoid Player list that guarantees you won’t match with a player again. Designate players to avoid on the post-game screen to filter them out of your matchmaking pool.”

While the option to enable gamers to avoid toxic players has been greeted with almost universal positivity, many fans are unhappy that such an important feature is only available to those prepared – or able – to pay for it. There are also conflicting reports from players about the experimental feature’s effectiveness.

“It’s telling that the company sees this as an add-on, and not part of the core experience that should be offered to all players for free,” said The Verge’s T.C. Sottek. “Playing the game solo continues to be a wild gamble. Just last night I played a couple rounds of Dota, and while I was placed with a perfectly friendly group of teammates in the first round, in the next game I was subjected to a team of toxic players who argued for 40 minutes and launched vicious racial and homophobic slurs at everyone in the match.

“It’s unconscionable that major developers and publishers like Valve can’t be bothered to implement the most basic player safety features in their games.”