The encyclopedia · Strategy & Leadership · Strategic decision · 2016–2018
Blizzard ended its own esports league overnight — weeks after promising 2019 funding
Blizzard cancelled the Heroes Global Championship in December 2018 — weeks after telling pros 2019 funding would hold — ending Heroes of the Storm esports.
Blizzard Entertainment · 2018-12-13
What happened
Heroes of the Storm, Blizzard's 2015 entry into the team-fight genre dominated by League of Legends and Dota 2, got its own circuit in 2016: the Heroes Global Championship, a salaried pro league, plus the collegiate Heroes of the Dorm. For three seasons it paid teams, ran international events and broadcast the finals.
On 13 December 2018, president J. Allen Brack and vice president Ray Gresko announced both circuits were cancelled for 2019, and developers were being moved off Heroes of the Storm onto other projects — a 'difficult decision' taken to 'set up the game for long-term sustainability'. Viewership had been sliding: Esports Charts counted 3.5 million overall HGC viewers in 2017 against 3 million in 2018, and peak concurrents fell from 191,000 to 183,000.
The timing, not the decline, was the wound. Players and creators said Blizzard staff had told them at BlizzCon — weeks earlier — that 2019 HGC funding would be 'equal or greater'. Team Method disbanded the same day and issued termination agreements; a team owner had signed an apartment lease on expected 2019 income; one aspiring pro had dropped out of college for a roster spot that no longer existed. Hundreds of players, coaches, casters and production staff lost their esports livelihoods in a single blog post.
Why it happened
- Blizzard reprioritized developers away from Heroes of the Storm and treated the esports circuit as disposable overhead.
- Viewership declined steadily, but the league was cut outright rather than downsized.
- Assurances of continued funding given at BlizzCon weeks earlier left teams committed to 2019 budgets.
The lesson
Blizzard told HGC pros at BlizzCon that 2019 funding would hold; weeks later the league was cancelled by blog post. When a circuit exists only as a marketing line item, it dies with the budget line.
Aftermath
Heroes of the Storm continued in maintenance mode; the game's esports scene never recovered, and the cancellation became a reference point in every debate about publisher-controlled esports.
Sources
- Polygon, 14 December 2018 — Heroes of the Storm pros react to Blizzard canceling HotS esports (announcement ended careers of hundreds of players, creators, casters and production crews overnight; Blizzard employees told people at BlizzCon weeks prior that 2019 HGC funding would be 'equal or greater'; Team Method disbanded and issued termination agreements; team owner Justing signed apartment lease on expected 2019 income; aspiring pro Liam O'Malley dropped out of college for an Endemic roster spot that vanished; Method GM Derrie criticised Blizzard for announcing via social media)
- GamesIndustry.biz, 14 December 2018 — Blizzard cancels Heroes of the Storm Global Championship (HGC and Heroes of the Dorm will not return in 2019; joint statement from president J. Allen Brack and VP Ray Gresko calling it a 'difficult decision' to set the game up for 'long-term sustainability'; developers moved to other projects; Esports Charts: overall viewership fell from 3.5M in 2017 to 3M in 2018, peak concurrents from 191,000 to 183,000)
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