Free to Play portrays the three professional video gamers “Dendi”, “HyHy” and “Fear” from Ukraine, Singapore and the USA, who are taking part in the first international Dota 2 tournament at the Gamescom trade fair 2011 in Cologne. This and other now very popular, publicly performed computer game competitions are all about prize money in the millions. The film provides insights into the world of e-sports, which has long since become a mass phenomenon and follows its own laws.
Free to Play was produced by Valve, a company that also developed Dota 2 and is the organizer of the Dota 2 championship tournament, which has been held annually since 2011. Thus, the film is exemplary for the flowing line between creative self-expression and professional marketing of the gaming community.
GAK shows Free to Play at the suggestion of Timo Seber, for whose current solo exhibition „TWITCH“ the computer game Dota 2 was the starting point.
A film screening to the exhibition “Timo Seber. TWITCH” suggested by Timo Seber .
Valve Corporation: Free to Play , 2014
Documentary, USA, 2014, 75 Min
(English with partly German UT)