Kia has entered the ring, Blizzard continues to act weird in front of esports fans, and a male Overwatch player decided it would be a good idea to impersonate a female and join a professional team. All this and more happened this week in the world of esports.
Blizzard pondering about Hearthstone esports
It hasn't been long since Blizzard ultimately killed the Heroes of the Storm esports competitive scene, but already the company has sent out surveys to Hearthstone players asking a bunch of questions. As reported by PCGamesN, Blizzard asked players "how important are Blizzard sponsored Hearthstone tournaments to you?" and "if there were no Blizzard sponsored Hearthstone tournaments, how likely are you to play Hearthstone in the next 30 days?"
Blizzard may not be closing Hearthstone esports ... yet.
Sure, this may be nothing, but one cannot ignore how Blizzard has handled HotS, and one can only question whether this survey is but a nail in the coffin for Hearthstone esports too. It's no secret that Activision isn't happy with how Blizzard is performing and shuttering the competitive side of some of its games could be a sure way to cut costs, especially given the returns aren't quite matching Overwatch or competitive games. But this is all speculation, and as far as we know, Blizzard is still committed to the Hearthstone competitive scene.
Would you be sad to see Hearthstone esports go?
Kia sponsors League of Legends European Championship
Just when you thought this week wasn't too good for esports, Kia lept onto the bandwagon by entering into a partnership with Riot Games. The new League of Legends European Championship (LEC) needed a sponsor and Kia was more than happy to tap into the market.
Riot Games has been pushing esports further with the high production value of Worlds 2018 and now scoring a high brand sponsorship deal for the main European championship shows how big companies are taking note of esports growth as the potential for marketing. And Kia seems to be a perfect fit so far with the initial video.
Also, QuickShot looks dappa with blonde hair. Tencent (owner of Riot Games) also created a new company with its subsidiary in China to better handle tournament hosting and competitive play in the region.
Humans are toxic when competitive
I've lost count how many times I've been told politely to grab a spade and dig my own grave in a League of Legends ranked match — and LoL isn't the only toxic community. Competitive gaming is toxic, but so is everything else that involves beating down opponents and getting to where you want. High pay job openings, traditional sports, and now video games to name but a few.
The sheer volume of toxicity shared among gamers is staggering, and it can paint a misleading picture when stories are written about women being held back in gaming. Sure, women have it hard because of "trash communities," but so do their male counterparts.
Women in esports have once again become the topic of the day with the recent Overwatch scandal with "Ellie," a signed female esports player who was, in reality, a male player called "Punisher" who wanted to carry out a social experiment. This kind of thing doesn't help, nor does the constant bashing of the gaming community for women not being on-stage.
Just look at what happened with Team Siren in the video above. If a female pro player is good enough for the stage, an organization would do itself an injustice not to sign her onto the roster. Same with male players. They don't (and shouldn't) care about gender. It's all about talent.
I want to see women in esports competing on stage, but I also want them to get there because they're good enough. Again, same with male players.
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