Dota 2 will launch proper in early August, Valve has confirmed.

Speaking with Gamespot, Valve VP of marketing Doug Lombardi said that the full game would be available before this year's The International championship, which begins on August 7.

The International’s top prize is US$1 million, and this will be the tournament’s third year.

Dota 2 entered beta in 2011, and early access keys are still available for US$30 via Steam. However, once the game launches, it will employ a free-to-play business model.

Dota 2 holds the record for the most concurrent users in Steam history with around 330,000 simultaneous players online in May of this year. That figure was higher than the rest of Steam’s top ten games combined.