Dota 2 Reborn

Dota 2 Reborn is an upcoming overhaul to the Dota 2 game system. It adds the custom games function, a new game interface, improved social and DotaTV features, as well as transitioning the game to the Source 2 engine.

Open beta testing for Dota 2 Reborn started on June 17, 2015. It is scheduled to release some time after The International 2015.

Custom Games

 * Added support for custom games.
 * Custom games can be joined through the lobby, or through the automatic matching system.
 * Supports community voting.
 * Supports highlighting for popular, favorites, and suggested games.
 * Supports regular spectating.

Dota 2 Workshop Tools

 * Allows the community to design custom maps and game modes.
 * Includes model editor.
 * Includes materials editor (textures and shading)
 * Includes particles editor.
 * Supports Hammer tile editor.
 * Supports Panorama for UI development.
 * Supports Lua scripting.

Interface

 * Renovated dashboard.
 * Added new default loading screen.
 * Public lobby games can now be seen and joined by all players.
 * Added individual hero statistics, including hero-specific matchmaking ratings.
 * Added playstyle graph.

Hero browser

 * Redesigned.
 * Added filtering for Melee and Ranged.
 * Added tiered filtering for Carries and Supports.

Demo Hero

 * Added Demo Hero function:
 * In-game sandbox to practice last hitting and hero abilities.
 * Allows players to preview all cosmetic items.

Social

 * Added party voice chat outside of games.
 * Added party management function.
 * Added party beacon function, allowing players to display their status.
 * Added miniprofile for Steam friends.
 * Added activity feed for Steam friends.
 * Added in-game whispering function.
 * Added multiple conversations function.
 * Increased chat room sizes from 1,000 to 5,000.

DotaTV

 * Added tournament matches and friends' matches to the list of ongoing games.
 * Added detailed statistics and minimap preview of ongoing games.
 * Added 1080px streaming.
 * Added in-game statistics and graphs.
 * Added in-game access to third-party streaming.
 * Added bookmark function to replays.
 * Added highlighting for popular replays and friends' replays.
 * Added replay sharing and discussion functions.

Tutorial

 * Added Guided Bot Matches.
 * In-game captioning guides newer players with tips and advice.
 * Removed several old tutorial missions.
 * Removed the World Map.

Source 2 Engine

 * Lower latency and more responsive input.
 * Added tiled map system, allowing players to play together while using different custom map terrains.
 * Increased performance limit to take advantage of higher end hardware.
 * Improved streaming capabilities.
 * Improved audio and voice processing.
 * Improved rendering capabilities.
 * Added new physics and cloth simulation engines.
 * Added native support for OpenGL.
 * Added Mac and Linux clients.

Others

 * Game map has been slightly changed.
 * Added new music.
 * Improved networking.
 * New network backbone.
 * Improved connections.
 * DDOS protection.
 * Source filmmaker.
 * Direct integration with workshop tools.
 * Added replay editing.