Heroes of the Storm (HotS) isn't quite down and out just yet, with Blizzard looking to work in the title for an upcoming ESPN Collegiate Esports Championship event. All while its overlords at Activision are eyeing up the potential of Call of Duty in a similar format to the Overwatch League.
College Heroes of the Storm are respawning
ESPN announced a partnership with Tespa to host the ESPN Collegiate Esports Championship, which will be held between May 10 to May 12 in Houston, Texas. What makes this announcement particularly exciting for Heroes of the Storm fans is the inclusion of Blizzard's MOBA at the George R. Brown Convention Center event.
Alongside HotS are Overwatch, Hearthstone, StarCraft II, and Street Fighter V. It's not currently known whether more titles will be announced at a later date. Interestingly, Tespa was acquired by Blizzard in 2014, which makes the inclusion of HotS that much more intriguing given the recent ax to its esport program.
As reported by Hotspawn, HotS remains fairly popular, especially with college students. While it could be viewed as a send-off of sorts for the MOBA, there could at the very least be a minute hope of some form of revival, though it'll never bring back the game to the big esports stage.
Next level Activision esports
Activision Blizzard is taking esports to the next level by making the Overwatch League (OWL) even bigger, bringing on brands like Coca-Cola and selling out big crowds. The Washington Post covered news that OWL would switch to a city-based, home and away tournament model. This would see the esports scene follow traditional sports closely.
Not only that, but the companies are actively eyeing up a similar format for Call of Duty, which would potentially be more popular than the current OWL. As reported by Motley Fool, this setup would include teams representing cities.
Upcoming live events
- PUBG PEL — starting April 16, watch on Twitch.
