Today’s the day, Heroes of the Storm fans.
Sign up and you can take part in Blizzard Entertainment’s open beta of the massive online battle arena game, which features characters from the company’s popular franchises, such as Warcraft, Diablo, and StarCraft. (And we have some tips for beginners — or those who have played other multiplayer online battle arenas such as League of Legends of Dota 2.)
Heroes was in the news recently when ESPN2 aired its first-ever live e-sports match, the Heroes of the Storm collegiate finals (known as Heroes of the Dorm). The audience wasn’t great, but the precedent for broadcasting e-sports on traditional sports cable channels was set.
The game officially launches June 2. It’s been in technical alpha and then in closed beta for what feels like forever. (Combined, those tests took 14 months.) The game was originally announced in 2010.