Blizzard’s esports efforts are starting to ramp up as we get closer to the company’s annual fan convention, and that means we need to figure out who the best Heroes of the Storm team is in the Americas region.
The publisher has just announced that it is planning to bring together the top eight teams from its Americas division to compete in its Heroes of the Storm multiplayer online arena battler in Las Vegas. This includes teams from North America, South America, Australia, New Zealand, and Southeast Asia, which all make up what Blizzard defines as it Americas territory. And a $100,000 prize pool is up for grabs for the top teams.
The 2015 Heroes of the Storm Americas Championship is September 19 and September 20 at the Las Vegas Convention Center. It’s free if you wish to attend, but Blizzard is encouraging fans to get to the convention center prior to the doors opening up at 9 a.m. Pacific time each day.
If you cannot make it, the competition streams live on the Heroes of the Storm channel on Twitch.
Of course, this is just a preliminary to the big Heroes of the Storm esports action this year. The two teams who finish at the top of the Americas tournament will go on to compete at Blizzcon for a $500,000 prize pool in the Heroes of the Storm World Championship.
The timing of this Blizzard announcement comes just as the esports scene is reaching new heights. We’re fresh off a thrilling competition for publisher Valve’s MOBA Dota 2, which awarded more than $18.4 million in prizes as part of its annual The International competition.
Millions of people tuned in on Twitch, YouTube, and elsewhere to watch that, and now its Heroes of the Storm’s chance to start building up a similar fan base.