Pro players, team owners, streamers and other Heroes of the Storm players vent their sadness and frustration about Blizzard’s choice to scale back development of the game and cancel the Heroes Global Championship (HGC).
On Thursday evening, Blizzard Entertainment announced it was scaling back work on Heroes of the Storm, its cross-franchise MOBA, and moving developers from that game to other projects. While Blizzard said it would continue to work on the game and release new content, it was a clear sign that Heroes of the Storm will not be a priority for the company in 2019 and beyond.
For many fans of the game, however, it was the cancellation of the Heroes Global Championship for 2019 that hit hardest. Dropping the HGC — and the Heroes of the Dorm collegiate circuit — was a sign of no confidence in Heroes of the Storm as a viable esport.
People who made a living based on Heroes of the Storm, including players, streamers, team owners and commentators, say they feel blindsided and betrayed by the announcement. Some said that Blizzard told them just a few weeks ago that the 2019 Heroes Global Championship was still happening.
YouTube content creator Kala, who has coached teams and created Heroes of the Storm content for years, said in a reaction video that his whole life has been built around the game, which he now sees as irrelevant.
“There’s so many teams and players that have put their heart and soul into this game and have developed livelihoods around this game, myself included,” Kala said in the emotional video, “and now everything gets pulled out from underneath them. It’s absolutely insane and I’m so fucking tilted about it. Holy crap. I’m so upset. So yeah, I don’t know what to do now. Coach of a game without a competitive scene…
“I was straight-up told by Blizzard employees at BlizzCon … that the HGC was going to be the same. Funding equal or greater for next year.”
Another longtime Heroes of the Storm content creator, MFPallytime, said he similarly felt left in the dark by Blizzard. In his own video, he said that the people he spoke to within the company believed the Heroes Global Championship was going to go forward with a 2019 season right up until the esports series was officially canceled. Regardless, he feels disillusioned by Blizzard’s decision.
