GamesBeat weekly roundup: WoW loses 1.3M subscribers, Amazon brings paid apps to China, Q1 earnings, and more

If you follow VentureBeat but don’t regularly check our GamesBeat site, here’s a list of the best video game stories we ran over the last seven days that you may have missed.

Dota 2 replaces World of Warcraft as Raptr’s third most-played game

The gaming social-network Raptr reveals the data for the 20 most-played games in April.

Zynga reveals League of Legends-like Solstice Arena for mobile

Zynga has its own MOBA, but it is focusing on mobile rather than on competing with League of Legends or Dota 2.

Total War series gets a League of Legends-style spin-off

Total War: Rome II is still in the works, but Creative Assembly wants in on some of that MOBA action.

Infinite Crisis proves that superhuman brawls never get old (preview)

Turbine takes a break from its MMO duties with Infinite Crisis, a multiplayer online battle arena game that throws in parallel versions of famous DC superheroes like Batman and Wonder Woman.

Valve gives Plantronics the rights to officially brand headsets with Aperture Laboratories and Mann Co. logos

Valve teams with Plantronics to release gaming headphones branded with the Dota 2, Counter-Strike, and other brands.

Heroes of Newerth 3.0 adds bots, hopes to teach new players (interview)

S2 Games founder Marc DeForest talks to GamesBeat about Heroes of Newerth 3.0, how it differentiates itself from its competitors, and the current state of MOBAs.

The GamesBeat ‘Naughty and Nice’ alternative holiday gift guide for your geek

Whether you've got a gamer to please or a dork to sabotage, we have the perfect gift ideas to suit your holiday shopping needs.

Nexon to publish Dota 2 in Japan and Korea

'Freemium' publishing guru Nexon (MapleStory) will partner with Valve Corporation (Portal, Half-Life) to publish the Defense of the Ancients sequel in both Korea and Japan.

League of Legends is finally getting a spectator mode

Riot Games is adding a spectator mode to the popular free-to-play title League of Legends with its next patch.

The new mode will allow players to move their own camera around a match, as well as pause, rewind, slow down, …

IGN Pro League viewers highlight the rise of eSports online

The numbers are in from this month’s IGN Pro League (IPL) gaming competition, and they’re record-breakers of a kind. IGN boasts of drawing 346,000 streaming spectators at the tournament’s peak and more than 3 million unique viewers over all three …

Which Hollywood actors would fill Dota 2′s cast? (image)

Valve’s Dota 2 has yet to be officially released, and the fans are apparently getting restless. Luckily, the fans also seem to be skilled in the ways of Photoshop, and Dota 2 forumgoer AvunaOs has created a series of portraits …

Professional gamer explains why League of Legends has nothing to fear from DOTA

We sat down with professional gamer Carlos Rodriguez, aka Ocelote, to discuss the differences between the upcoming Dota 2, Blizzard DOTA, and League of Legends, his current MOBA (multiplayer online battle arena) and profession of choice.

League of Legends, developed …