If there was any doubt that Valve was keen on making its upcoming DotA 2 themed card game, Artifact, into a professional, Esports title like DotA, then they've been dispelled by the latest news about the game, which is that it's in a playable state and that Valve is soliciting professionals to give it a play before releasing it to the wider public.
As reported by Russian Esports news organization, CyberSport.ru (via ), Virtus Pro GM Roman Dvoryankin confirmed that his team had been contacted by Valve and would be taking part in testing the game. How involved it will remain beyond that is anyone's guess, but it's noteworthy that Valve is looking to solicit the opinions of professionals from around the world. We imagine it will also be looking to those of pro-gamers closer to home, but that they might be more willing to stick to NDA requests.
Although most are remaining hushed about what Artifact is actually like to play, we do know that it's in a playable state and some have had a few games of it. Reportedly they're quite excited about its potential, but beyond that, we just don't know a lot. We can speculate that all of the big DotA 2 characters will make appearances and there will no doubt be some form of item mechanics, though whether aspects like couriers will make the transition is anyone's guess.
Regardless, we would expect Artifact to become at least Early Access available in early 2018, so we probably don't have long to wait to see how it turns out.
