Summary
Nearly two weeks after the 2023 edition of BlizzCon, Blizzard’s multiplayer online battle arena (MOBA) titleHeroes of the Stormreceived its first major content update in over a year. The update came out after a few weeks of testing on the Heroes of the Storm public test realm (PTR) servers, andBlizzardfans expressed hope on social media that the “hero brawler” title is set for a future revival.
Unlike other MOBA games such asLeague of LegendsorDota 2,Heroes of the Stormis a team-focused game set in The Nexus, with multiple maps and objectives for players to utilize. Levels are shared within each team of five players, and talents unique to each Hero are used in place of items. Plus, iconic characters and locations from Blizzard’s multiple series, fromWarcrafttoOverwatch, received representation inHeroes of the Storm. In July 2022, after over seven years of constant content updates, Blizzard announcedHeroes of the Stormwould go into maintenance modefor the foreseeable future and gifted players with a mount to use as a token of gratitude.
However, thisnew content update has givenHoTSplayers a spark of hopethat was not there before. On November 16, Blizzard released the first major patch forHeroes of the Stormsince the maintenance mode announcement. Before that, the last playable character that the game received was Hogger, the infamous Gnoll leader fromWorld of Warcraftthat low-level Human characters faced. While no new heroes or maps were included in this content update, pre-existing heroes such as Tyrael, Alexstraza, Tracer, and Kerrigan received significant changes to their abilities. Plus, some maps such as Alterac Pass and Hanamura Temple received bug fixes to the mercenary camps that players can capture. The game also received changes to the camera and the user interface to make things easier for players to control.
On social media, Blizzard fans reacted positively to the new update and hoped that the new patch was a sign that there would be more on the way soon. Following Microsoft’s acquisition of Activision Blizzard, Xbox lead Phil Spencer expressed hisdesire to revisit older franchises. Whether the patch forHeroes of the Stormis along those lines of thinking or not remains to be seen.
The newHeroes of the Stormupdate arrived the same dayWorld of Warcraftkicked off its 19th-anniversary celebrationacross all versions of the game. All in all, a busy time awaits Blizzard fans ahead of Thanksgiving weekend.
Heroes of the Storm
WHERE TO PLAY
This free-to-play online team brawler assembles a diverse cast of characters from Blizzard’s far-flung realms of science fiction and fantasy, including the Warcraft, StarCraft, and Diablo universes, and challenges them to compete in epic, adrenaline-charged battles.Thrall, Kerrigan, Diablo, Arthas, Zeratul, Tyrael—they’re all here and ready to test their might in the forge of eternal combat. Who will stand with you in battle? Build and customize heroes from across every Blizzard universe to suit your play style. Team up with your friends and engage in fast-paced mayhem across battlegrounds that impact strategy and change the way you play the game.Good players win. Great ones win while dressed to kill. Distinguish yourself in battle with dozens of unique heroes, skins, and mounts, then customize your hero’s talents and choose heroic abilities.The game features an array of gameplay modes for players of every skill level, including Cooperative, in which players team up against computer-controlled opponents, and Quick Match, an accessible way to jump in and play versus others. Experienced players can also join forces against other teams of players in highly competitive, draft-style ranked play.
