Tuesday, March 18th, 2014
8:00pm (PDT)
The Castro Theatre
429 Castro Street
San Francisco, CA 94114

Please click here for ticket info

FREE TO PLAY is available now:

Watch on Steam Watch on Youtube Watch on Itunes Watch on Amazon Watch on VHX

Watch “Free to Play” on Steam

Free to Play will be available for free on Steam March 19th, 2014!

The Free to Play Pack

The Free to Play Pack will also be available for purchase on Steam and the Dota 2 Store, and 25% of the sales will be distributed to the players featured in the film as well as the contributors. The Free to Play Pack will include the following:

Dota 2 In-Game Items

Items will be available on March 19th, 2014 at the Dota 2 Store and Steam

FREE TO PLAY is a feature-length documentary that follows three professional gamers from around the world as they compete for a million dollar prize in the first Dota 2 International Tournament. In recent years, E Sports has surged in popularity to become one of the most widely-practiced forms of competitive sport today. A million dollar tournament changed the landscape of the gaming world and for those elite players at the top of their craft, nothing would ever be the same again. Produced by Valve, the film documents the challenges and sacrifices required of players to compete at the highest level.

A fascinating, eye-opening look at how video games are becoming the next-generation of sports.
—Geoff Keighley, Spike TV
Beautifully captured and wonderfully executed; Free to Play is a film about heart, passion and what drives us. Surely, it will become the definitive E Sports documentary, but really, it resonates well beyond. Free to Play is a remarkable film.
—James Swirsky and Lisanne Pajot, Indie Game: The Movie
A fascinating and humanising insight into the world of E Sports. It documents a tipping point.
—Philippa Warr, Wired.co.uk
“Free to Play,” a new documentary released by the game company Valve and available for free online via YouTube or Valve’s Steam game-distribution platform, is worth a watch.
— Boston Globe
Surprises are in store at every corner, and if you don’t follow the competitive DOTA2 scene and haven’t yet learned how the 2011 International turned out, you’re in for a treat.
— Awesome Games
Free to Play is not just a documentary for Dota fans; it’s for fans of people, their aspirations, and the struggles they’ll inevitably face.
— IGN
“Free to Play” is an incredibly colorful and realistic piece of work that left this viewer wondering if there are any limits to what eSports can accomplish.
— Northern Star
Underneath the glitz and glam of promoting Dota 2 and eSports in general is a film that has a lot of heart. Not because the filmmakers tried to portray the players as these awe inspiring and untouchable individuals. They portrayed them as people.
— Gamefreaks
The world of e-sports and the people in it are interesting, likable and incredibly dedicated.
— NBC News
I’d highly recommend you check out Free to Play for yourself , no matter how much of a gamer you are. I loved it, and my parents loved it.
— Incgamers.com
Not just a good videogame documentary, but one of the best documentaries. Period.
— Maximum PC

Born in L’viv, Ukraine, Dendi began playing video games at a young age after his older brother received a PC from their grandmother. As he had with his other early interests in life, music and dancing, Dendi picked up games very quickly and was soon excelling far beyond his age bracket. The prodigious dexterity earned through long hours of piano study was soon put to use in local gaming tournaments where he earned a reputation as a dominant and creative competitor. Though he was successful at other games, he knew he found his calling when he stumbled upon Dota.

If you’ve followed the development of Singaporean Dota, then Benedict “HyHy” Lim is a name that is familiar to you. Born in Singapore on 1990, HyHy’s rise to prominence began when he and teammates represented Singapore in the 2007 Asian Cyber Games. The following year, he was victorious in the Electronic Sports World Cup. Since then his body of work has become a pillar in the Dota 2 community. Never one to shy away from controversy, HyHy speaks his mind, and has made a name for himself as one of professional gaming’s most driven and versatile players.

Arguably among the most formidable Dota 2 players to ever come out of the Western Hemisphere, Clinton “Fear” Loomis, has never had an easy path in front of him. Ever the underdog, he’s used a balance of raw skill and hard-earned experience to overcome the isolation that US players often face when they compete at the highest level. Born 1988, his work ethic and dedication have taken him from Medford, Oregon to Europe, to China, and finally to the Dota 2 International, the tournament with the largest prize pool in the history of video games.

Sponsor a Showing

Valve offers you the right to show Free to Play, and to use related marketing materials to promote your showing, using the files available below. By downloading these files, you agree to these license terms:

  1. License to Movie Files. Valve Corporation (“Valve”) grants you a nonexclusive, royalty-free, terminable license to reproduce, distribute, and publicly display the files linked below containing its movie Free to Play (the “Movie”) (a) at locations owned or operated by you, and (b) via television, internet video service, or other audiovisual distribution service.
  2. Marketing Materials. Valve grants you a nonexclusive, royalty-free, terminable license to reproduce, distribute, and publicly display the files linked below containing marketing materials related to the Movie (the “Marketing Materials”) in any media for purposes of promoting your distribution and display of the Movie.
  3. Limitations. Your license to the Movie and the Marketing Materials is subject to these limitations:
    1. You may not modify, edit or change the Movie or Marketing Materials in any way.
    2. Valve grants you a license to the Movie and Marketing Materials anywhere in the world, but you must comply with applicable law in any jurisdiction where you exercise the license rights, including marketing, content labeling, or other laws that may apply.
    3. You will promote and present the Movie and Marketing Materials in a manner that makes clear Valve is the owner and the source of the Movie, the Marketing Materials, and Dota 2. Where appropriate, you will display the following credit: “© Valve Corporation 2014. All Rights Reserved. Valve, the Valve logo, Dota and the Dota logo are trademarks and/or registered trademarks of Valve.”
    4. You shall comply with reasonable requests that Valve may issue, from time to time, to cooperate in the marketing and promotion of the Movie.
    5. Valve may update the Movie or Marketing Materials from time to time. Upon Valve’s public notice of an update, you will promptly download the updated file from this web site, and cease reproduction, distribution and display of any prior version.
  4. Indemnity. You agree to indemnify, defend and hold Valve harmless from all liabilities, claims and expenses, including attorneys’ fees, that arise from or in connection with breach of this license or use of the Movie or Marketing Materials. Valve reserves the right, at its own expense, to assume the exclusive defense and control of any matter subject to indemnification.
  5. Law and Jurisdiction. This license is governed by the law of Washington, USA, and for any dispute arising in connection with this license or your use of the Movie or Materials, you agree to jurisdiction and venue in the state and federal courts sitting in King County, Washington, USA.
Download Marketing Materials here.
Download Movie Files here.