This article is part of our Game Side series.
Over the last few years, Blizzard has dove into the eSports world with both feet. It started way back in the 90's with Starcraft and its expansion, Starcraft: Brood War. Blizzard has always wanted people to play their games competitively as well as casually. The trend continued with both Hearthstone and Heroes of the Storm. While those ventures, and even Starcraft to a degree, haven't always run the smoothest, the changes and ideas that the company has brought to the table over the last couple weeks show a renewed focus on eSports.
What's New
It all started with the changes to the competitive scene in Heroes of the Storm (which you can read about in great detail here). The smaller open qualifiers for each region are now being replaced by an online league format in the four major regions (North America, Europe, China and Korea), much like what is seen in competitive League of Legends. This new league format will bring guaranteed compensation and a more set schedules for the teams, both tremendous additions to scene. Blizzard also borrowed from the League of Legends, implementing a similar system of promotion and relegation that will be coming to the leagues in 2017.
Blizzard followed those announcements with changes to the Hearthstone competitive scene that same week (more of which can be read about here). Instead of focusing on regional champions that would never face competition from other regions until BlizzCon, each season will now see global competition. Each region (Americas, Asia-Pacific, Europe, and China) will send four representatives to the Season Championship, with the winners of those making their way to the World Championships at the end of the championship season. Blizzard has also upped the prize pool to over $2 million across the entire season, with $1 million being allocated for the World Championship.
Not content to let its more established properties have all the eSports fun, Blizzard announced the next big thing in the world of Overwatch at BlizzCon, and it has the structure to change the game. Called the Overwatch League, Blizzard seems to be taking a page from the NFL in creating an incredibly structured league complete with combines, true free agency and, most importantly of all, contracts. Teams will be based around major cities across the world to add in an element of pride that is seen across the NFL and other major sports. No official date has been announced just yet, but it is expected to start up sometime in 2017.
What Sets Blizzard Apart
While Blizzard isn't exactly reinventing the wheel when it comes to the things that have been announced over the last few weeks, they are doing something that hasn't been seen too much yet in the eSports world. What they have committed to in a big way is stability. More specifically, financial stability.
The leagues that they've announced for both Heroes and Overwatch are nothing new. Heroes' league is modeled after League of Legends and Overwatch's is after the NFL and other professional sports leagues. The key difference here is that as opposed to something like the League Championship Series, Blizzard is giving players a guaranteed avenue at getting paid. The Heroes league will see each team in the league given $100,000 for its players. Overwatch League includes actual contracts that will give players weekly paychecks. In a world where players on eSports teams sometimes have to fight to actually get paid, these developments are huge.
The success of these ventures is something worth watching. Should the leagues prosper and deliver on the lofty promises Blizzard has put out, it could put other eSports organizations on notice that this is how a league should operate. Only time will tell if that happens, but the future certainly is bright.
