Blizzard to Invest $4 Million into Heroes of the Storm

Blizzard to invest more than $4 million into the 2016 Heroes of the Storm Global Championship Circuit.

After a fantastic year for the latest Blizzard MOBA, which featured the global launch of Heroes of the Storm, the World Championship at BlizzCon, as well as the Heroes of the Dorm tournament that gained ESPN coverage, Blizzard have announced they will invest more than $4 Million into the prize pool for their upcoming three seasons.

Over 2016, there will be a Spring, Summer and Autumn Global Championship, culminating at Blizzcon. In addition to rising the prize pool, there are now three new regions - Oceania, South-East Asia and Taiwan - that will join the North American, European, Chinese, South Korean and Latin regions of last year, with a total of twelve teams going through to the Championship. Each region will have a qualifier in the lead up to the season's global championship, with Spring taking place April 1st-3rd in Seoul, with a $500,000 Prize Pool.

While details around the Summer and Autumn seasons are scarce, the Spring dates and prizes have been confirmed, with a full list here. The team spread looks to be typically fair, with China, North America, Europe and Korea having two representative teams at the Spring Finals, while Latin America, Southeast Asia, Oceania and Taiwan receive one each.

Although the Heroes of the Storm Global Championship Circuit does not reach the astonishing heights the $18 Million Dota 2 ‘The International’ event offered - mainly raised through community contributions - it seems to be indicative of a widespread tactic of 2016 to offer less large single event pools, in an attempt to help improve eSports financial stability.

In comparison, the recently concluded Smite World Championship capped the total prize pool at $1 Million, therefore it seems to be easier and more efficient to spread larger prize pools to more teams at regional levels, encouraging more participation at such events.

What do you think? Is it better to spread the wealth and give more teams more money, or does it take away from the anticipation with millions in prize money to be won?

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