Source: http://www.gamespot.com/news/dota-2-will-be-free-to-play-6379759
Valve plan on making all heroes available from the start free of charge. Steam wrote the following on the Dota2 blog: "We believe restricting player access to heroes could be destructive to game design, so it's something we plan to avoid."
You can buy early access into Dota2, however, for $39.99 with the purchase of the Dota2 Early Access Bundle of Items. Only cosmetic items will be able to be bought with real money.
Dota2 will also be following Team Fortress 2 with regards to player created content being able to be bought. Over $3.5 million was paid out to users for their fan created content in the first year of Team Fortress 2. I’m sure Dota2 will be able to top that!
Dota2 launches officially later this year, and the Beta is currently being played my millions of gamers around the world already!
"The opening of the Dota Store is a big part of our final push to launch," Dota 2 design lead IceFrog said in a statement. "By making the game free to play, we hope to give gamers the ability to decide how--and how much--they want to invest in the game."
Dota 2 is scheduled for PC and Mac release this year. The game combines action and real-time strategy elements in multiplayer matches that pit teams of player-controlled heroes against one another. The game will include integrated voice chat and computer-controlled characters that will take over for players who disconnect during play sessions, as well as a coaching system, where veteran players will have the chance to tutor newcomers.
I for one am a huge MOBA fan, and cannot wait to get my hands on the final product!