DotA 2 Maybe Possibly Might Be Free-to-Play
Valve is already getting its head stuck into the F2P trough, so it was probably only a matter of time before they went from merely supporting F2P games to adopting the business model themselves. Their Head of Marketing Things To People Who Might Want To Buy Them Doug Lombardi was asked by French website Barre de Vie if Valve was working on their own F2P title. To which he promptly said, “Oui.”
He went on to say, "In some areas of the world, F2P games are already paying more than the traditional games. This trend continues for some time and we believe it will continue.”
But which game? Monsieur Lombardi wouldn’t say much more on the matter. DotA 2 seems to be as fair a guess as any, given that it's pretty much the only confirmed forthcoming Valve release, which is why loads of people are saying it. The French included. Google Chrome’s translate feature also tells us that “microwave transactions” will play a big role in the future of PC gaming.
(RPS note- Brendy here's helping us out for a few days, cos the old men of RPS need a bit of a snooze. Say hello!)