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In a recent press release by Blizzard, they have announced that they are shifting developers away from Heroes of the Storm and placing them on other projects. Blizzard has many unannounced projects and their classics such as World of Warcraft, Starcraft II, Diablo III, Overwatch and Hearthstone are just doing significantly better.
Blizzard has also confirmed that they will be cancelling their esports events. Championships such as Heroes Global Championship and Heroes of the Dorm will not be returning in 2019.
What is Heroes of the Storm?
Heroes of the Storm, abbreviated HotS in the gaming community, is a 5v5 Multiplayer Online Battle Arena (MOBA) which was developed by Blizzard Entertainment after popular reception from the big boys such as Dota 2 and League of Legends.
There are many different characters that are playable heroes, all of whom are from Blizzard's different franchises, including their 90s game "The Lost Vikings". Players need in-game currency or real money to unlock skins, voice lines and to unlock different new heroes.
Why did it fail?
Quite simply put, bigger MOBAs such as Dota 2 and League of Legends already had a captive audience. While HotS maybe a simpler game to play, the esports scene around Dota 2 and LoL had already been successful among fans and garnered much larger support.
Furthermore, Heroes of the Storm was not making enough money from its game system. Their esports events have also often resulted in losses and poor viewership. Turns out, players don't find it interesting to spectate simpler games.
Is this the end?
Development for Heroes of the Storm is not stopping, make no mistake. Blizzard will continue to add more characters and develop the game since it still does have an active community. The major cut is only for their esports scene, which was proven not to be very successful.
With Blizzard supposedly adding new games to their library, HotS may just get overshadowed by some of their more successful ones.
