Valve used the final match on Day 2 of the DotA 2 Championships to tease a new game. The game is called "Artifact" and it will be a card game based on Defense of the Ancients (DotA).

The teaser trailer (above) shown at the tournament does not give much away about the new title. However, Sean Plott, host of The International 2017 (Ti7) indicated that the game would be played on three boards. He also stated that it would involve barracks building, creeps and lanes. Lanes would suggest that the title will be similar to Clash Royale. The only other detail revealed about it is that it will be out sometime in 2018.

Card collecting games are fun, and there is the obvious continual revenue from card purchases involved, but many find it puzzling that Valve would choose to release yet another card-based game into this genre which is already saturated with copycats. Blizzard's Hearthstone is the big IP for this niche group of players. CD Project Red's Gwent, which is based off the card collecting game in The Witcher 3 is another variant that is doing well. Clash Royale, which seems to be the closest comparison to Artifact at this point has about 75 million players. So even though the genre is only a small sliver of the gaming market, it is clear that Valve wants a piece of that pie.

However, the announcement sparked fiery comments on YouTube and social media (yes, the game already has its own Twitter feed).

And those were just a few of the tamer tweets. Most are profanity-laced rants. Even the reaction from the Ti7 audience (below) was one of bewilderment, disappointment and then awkward laughter.

Not everyone, however, is disappointed with the prospect of a new card game.

However, the consensus from those who bothered to give reasoning to their anger is that they would rather see Valve sink its money into developing Half Life 3 or a brand new IP instead of tossing them a DotA-disguised Hearthstone clone. Even if it's more like Clash Royale than Hearthstone, it is certainly not what most Valve fans were wanting or expecting of the company's next project.

Good or bad, the game will be out in 2018, while Half Life 3 remains just a dream for those disappointed in the announcement.