Valve removes Dota 2 treasure keys for a “keyless economy”

Treasure keys are going to disappear from Dota 2 in a year’s time. This permanent removal of the game’s primary trading currency is a part of the Dota 2 August 14 update, which aims to “complete the transition to a keyless economy”:

Treasure keys are used for all sorts of transactions in Dota 2. Priced between $2 to $2.50 on the Steam community market, they can still be used for trading or to redeem a free unlocked treasure of your choice. The trades are usually carried out in online communities such as the Dota 2 Lounge or Facebook groups such as The Black Market.

Check out some fan reactions from Reddit:

Keys have skyrocketed to 30 bucks in the market. Only ten left as I write this. Oh Gaben, what have you done? 😛

What’s gonna be the Dota currency if we don’t have keys?

Keys are probably going to skyrocket in price now, until they finally die out in July.

They previously only opened X, Y, Z chests. They now open A-Z chests. They’re innately more valuable.

This is going to ruin a lot of the big time traders who stashed thousands of keys. Ouch.

We’re not sure what will replace treasure keys, but their removal does put a kink in the plans of current traders. What do you think will replace Treasure Keys as Dota 2’s trading currency?

Elsewhere on the Steam:

(Image sources: 1, 2)