Heroes Of The Storm
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''Heroes of the Storm'' is a
crossover Crossover may refer to: Entertainment Albums and songs * ''Cross Over'' (Dan Peek album) * ''Crossover'' (Dirty Rotten Imbeciles album), 1987 * ''Crossover'' (Intrigue album) * ''Crossover'' (Hitomi Shimatani album) * ''Crossover'' (Yoshino ...
multiplayer online battle arena Multiplayer online battle arena (MOBA) is a subgenre of strategy video games in which two teams of players compete against each other on a predefined battlefield. Each player controls a single character with a set of distinctive abilities that ...
video game developed and published by
Blizzard Entertainment Blizzard Entertainment, Inc. is an American video game developer and publisher based in Irvine, California. A subsidiary of Activision Blizzard, the company was founded on February 8, 1991, under the name Silicon & Synapse, Inc. by three gradu ...
. It was released for
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and
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on June 2, 2015. The game features various characters from Blizzard's franchises as playable heroes, as well as different battlegrounds based on ''
Warcraft ''Warcraft'' is a franchise of video games, novels, and other media created by Blizzard Entertainment. The series is made up of five core games: '' Warcraft: Orcs & Humans'', '' Warcraft II: Tides of Darkness'', '' Warcraft III: Reign of Chao ...
'', '' Diablo'', '' StarCraft'', and ''
Overwatch ''Overwatch'' is a multimedia franchise centered on a series of online multiplayer first-person shooter (FPS) video games developed by Blizzard Entertainment: '' Overwatch'' released in 2016, and ''Overwatch 2'' released in 2022. Both games f ...
'' universes. Players form into five-player teams and fight against another team in 5-versus-5 matches, with an average game duration of roughly 20 minutes. The first team to destroy opponents' main structure, known as the "King's Core", wins the match. Each themed battleground has a different
metagame Metagame, Hypergame, or game about the game, is an approach to a game that transcends or operates outside of the prescribed rules of the game, uses external factors to affect the game, or goes beyond the supposed limits or environment set by th ...
and secondary objectives to secure, whose completion gives your team massive advantages, typically through pushing power. Every player controls a single character, known as a "hero", with a set of distinctive abilities and differing styles of play. Heroes become more powerful over the course of a match by collecting experience points and unlocking "talents" that offer new abilities or augment existing ones, contributing to the team's overall strategy. ''Heroes of the Storm'' is inspired by ''
Defense of the Ancients ''Defense of the Ancients'' (''DotA'') is a multiplayer online battle arena (MOBA) mod for the video game '' Warcraft III: Reign of Chaos'' (2002) and its expansion, ''The Frozen Throne''. The objective of the game is for each team to destro ...
'', a community-created
mod Mod, MOD or mods may refer to: Places * Modesto City–County Airport, Stanislaus County, California, US Arts, entertainment, and media Music * Mods (band), a Norwegian rock band * M.O.D. (Method of Destruction), a band from New York City, US ...
based on ''
Warcraft III ''Warcraft III: Reign of Chaos'' is a high fantasy real-time strategy computer video game developed and published by Blizzard Entertainment released in July 2002. It is the second sequel to ''Warcraft: Orcs & Humans'', after ''Warcraft II: Tides ...
'', another video game developed by Blizzard Entertainment. The game is
free-to-play Free-to-play (F2P or FtP) video games are games that give players access to a significant portion of their content without paying or do not require paying to continue playing. Free-to-play is distinct from traditional commercial software, which ...
and is supported by microtransactions which can be used to purchase heroes, visual alterations for the heroes in the game, mounts, and other cosmetic elements. Blizzard calls the game as a "hero brawler" instead of the more common "multiplayer online battle arena" (MOBA). As of July 2022, Blizzard had stopped all major development of the game and entered it into maintenance mode.


Gameplay

''Heroes of the Storm'' revolves around online 5-versus-5 matches, operated through online gaming service Battle.net, with an average game duration of roughly 20 minutes. In every match, players work together as a team to achieve the ultimate victory condition of destroying the opposing team's main structure, the "Core", before enemy team does the same. To reach the Core, at least one line of defensive structures, known as "forts" and "keeps", needs to be destroyed. Players can use the assistance of mercenary camps'','' battleground bosses, and a small group of computer-controlled units, called "minions"'','' to assault the enemy more efficiently. Minions periodically
spawn Spawn or spawning may refer to: * Spawn (biology), the eggs and sperm of aquatic animals Arts, entertainment, and media * Spawn (character), a fictional character in the comic series of the same name and in the associated franchise ** '' Spawn: ...
throughout the game in groups, marching along the lanes toward the enemy base. There are currently 15 battlegrounds available to play, each of which has different
metagame Metagame, Hypergame, or game about the game, is an approach to a game that transcends or operates outside of the prescribed rules of the game, uses external factors to affect the game, or goes beyond the supposed limits or environment set by th ...
and secondary objectives to secure. Completing these secondary objectives can give your team massive advantages, typically through pushing power. In all game modes, each player controls one of the 90
playable characters A player character (also known as a playable character or PC) is a fictional character in a video game or tabletop role-playing game whose actions are controlled by a player rather than the rules of the game. The characters that are not contr ...
(as of November 2020), called "heroes", with each having a unique design, strengths, and weaknesses. Heroes are divided into six separate roles: tank, bruiser, ranged assassin, melee assassin, healer, and support. Initially, no heroes are permanently available for use; however, players may choose from a list of heroes that are free to use from a weekly rotation. By using the
in-game currency A virtual economy (or sometimes synthetic economy) is an emergent economy existing in a virtual world, usually exchanging virtual goods in the context of an online game, particularly in massively multiplayer online games (MMOs). People enter ...
, called "Gold", or through microtransactions, they can gain permanent access to a hero. Each individual hero comes with a set of distinctive abilities. Ability kit is generally composed of three basic abilities usable right from level 1, a passive or active trait, and a powerful "heroic ability". Upon reaching level 10, players can choose between two "heroics" which often have a devastating effect and a long
cooldown Cooling down (also known as limbering down or warming down) is an important transition, done after intense activity, to allow the body to gradually return to resting or near-resting state. Depending on the intensity of the exercise, cooling down a ...
. Heroics are usually the strongest tools in an arsenal that define a hero's strengths and playstyle. A hero can only gain one type of heroic per match. If a hero runs out of health points and dies, they are removed from active play until a
respawn In video games, spawning is the live creation of a character, item or NPC. Respawning is the recreation of an entity after its death or destruction, perhaps after losing one of its lives. Despawning is the deletion of an entity from the game ...
timer counts down to zero, after which they subsequently respawn at the rear of their team's base, known as the "Hall of Storms". Furthermore, the Hall of Storms allows heroes to quickly restore their health and
mana According to Melanesian and Polynesian mythology, ''mana'' is a supernatural force that permeates the universe. Anyone or anything can have ''mana''. They believed it to be a cultivation or possession of energy and power, rather than being ...
over time as long as they are within the Hall. The Hall also offers protection from enemy damage and effects, and enemy players are repelled outward a slight distance in a sudden fashion upon entering an opposing team's Hall. Experience points, which players can gain by gathering experience globes from fallen minions, are shared across the entire team. This is uncommon for the MOBA genre, in which most games employ a system of separate, per-player experience and leveling. In addition, certain enemy structures, such as towers, forts and keeps, will provide experience to the team who destroys them, as well as captured mercenary camps. When a team during the course of the match reaches a certain experience point threshold, every hero on that team levels up, acquiring slightly amplified powers, up to a maximum level of 30. Every few levels, players may select a "talent" which offers a new ability or augments an existing one. Two significant power spikes are at level 10 and level 20, where heroes gain access to some of the most powerful talents in the game, referred to as "heroic" and "storm talents", respectively. This leveling system emphasizes the importance of teamwork and planning since a player's action can affect the whole team. In addition to the talent system, each player is able to use a "Hearthstone", an ability that allows heroes to teleport back to their base from anywhere on the battleground after a few seconds of channeling without receiving damage, using abilities, or attacking. Players can also utilize various mounts, such as animals, bikes, and clouds, to increase their movement speed, automatically dismounting when attacking, receiving damage or using most abilities.


Game modes

''Heroes of the Storm'' includes several game modes from which players can choose, including the option to play either against computer-controlled Heroes or other players. * Tutorials - The tutorials are composed of three scripted 'levels' that are aimed at new players with the intent of teaching movement, use of abilities and other basic controls. The player controls
Jim Raynor James Eugene Raynor is a fictional character and a major protagonist in Blizzard Entertainment's science fiction ''StarCraft'' series. Raynor is a predominant character in the science fiction real-time strategy video games ''StarCraft'' and '' B ...
, who is teleported from the ''StarCraft'' universe into the Nexus, receiving instructions from Uther Lightbringer from the ''Warcraft'' series. * Training - A reduced experience mode where a player teams up with four AI teammates against five AI opponents set at the Beginner difficulty. * Versus A.I. - Players face off against five AI opponents. Before starting the match, the player can choose to have human-controlled or AI allies. The difficulty setting of the AI can also be chosen prior to initiating a match. * Quick Match - Players choose their heroes before entering the match without knowing what map they are playing, or what heroes they will be matched with and against. This mode sets two teams of five human-controlled heroes against each other on a random map in
player versus player Player versus player (PvP) is a type of multiplayer interactive conflict within a game between human players. This is often compared to player versus environment (PvE), in which the game itself controls its players' opponents. The terms are mos ...
(PvP) style combat. These teams are selected based on the player's past performance to create an even playing field, as well as the roles of heroes chosen. For example, if a player queues without other party members as a Support, they are extremely unlikely to be matched with four other Support teammates. * Unranked Draft - Before the start of an Unranked Draft game, opposing teams must engage in a "draft", alternating in choosing characters for each team's respective composition of 5 Heroes. As this draft progresses, each team is aware of the choices of the other, as well as the battleground the game on which the game will be played. This invites a higher level of skill in which players must wisely choose their characters according to the compositions of each team and their knowledge of how the various battlegrounds differ. Throughout the draft, each team may ban a total of 3 Heroes, prohibiting either team from picking these Heroes for the remainder of the draft. Unranked Draft is often seen as a mode to introduce players to a system more similar to the ranked Storm League mode than Quick Match, but without the risk of a player potentially altering their MMR. * Storm League - Storm League uses a draft phase before gameplay which functions identically to the draft system used in Unranked Draft; however, players are chosen to play with and against each other based on rankings established through their past Storm League performance. Players are ranked in leagues from Bronze (lowest) to Grand Master (highest) based on their in-game performance. Each league below Master (the second-highest league) is divided into 5 subcategories, referred to as divisions. These divisions number 1-5, with 1 being the highest-ranked and 5 being the lowest-ranked. Within Master, divisions are not used. Instead, players are sorted directly by their MMR points, and the top 100 Master-ranked players who have won at least 35 games in the current season are considered Grand Masters. An online leaderboard maintained by Blizzard shows the list of current Grand Master players in each major region, updated nightly. Players who choose to play competitively as an individual or as part of a team of up to 5 players can play in a Storm League match to be matched with other players in the region of their choice. In order to play in Storm League, players must have access to 16 heroes at hero-level 5 or higher and have an account-level of 50 or higher. Heroes that the player does not ''technically'' own but has unlocked through the weekly rotation of free Heroes count toward the requisite 16 Heroes. As players compete in these matches, they will be awarded rank points which will alter their rank and be used to match them against other players of similar rankings. Player rank is expressed in the form of League Tiers and Divisions, and this rank is assigned separately for each individual player. Rank is determined by the player's MMR directly and adjusted by penalties, such as Leaver Penalty. The first official Ranked Play season began on June 14, 2016, and ended on September 13. Each Ranked Play season is set to last for approximately 3–4 months. * Heroes Brawl - Added on October 18, 2016, this game mode had three different subcategories with varying rules. Completing 3 games of Heroes Brawl each week would earn the player a reward of one loot box. Heroes Brawl was removed as an available game mode on September 8, 2020, and replaced with ARAM. While the game mode was active, the rules of Heroes Brawl would change every week, including the following variations: ** Arenas - Players pick one of three (mostly) randomly selected Heroes and try to complete the objective. The first team to complete the objective will claim victory. The first to win two rounds wins the match. There are multiple arena maps exclusively designed for this mode. The Hero options given to the players are not entirely random, as certain characters are banned from the game mode, and certain precautions have been made to ensure team balance. For example, if one team is offered the choice of a healer-role Hero, the other team will be offered a healer as well. ** Mutators - Unique mechanics change the way you play on existing Battlegrounds. For example, one version allowed players to play the game using only "mages", or Heroes who primarily focus on dealing damage via magic rather than supporting their allies or dealing damage through more physical means. ** Single-Lanes - One-lane Battlegrounds with no objectives other than the destruction of the enemy's structures. Heroes are chosen using the same "choose from three" method employed in the Arenas subcategory of Heroes Brawl. Usage of the "Hearthstone" to teleport to the Hall of Storms is disabled, and the Hall of Storms provides no healing or mana restoration, although it will still grant immunity damage and disabling effects to players within its area. Due to the altered geography of a single-lane battleground drastically changing the strategy necessary to win the game and subsequently the game's balance between characters, certain Heroes have been restricted from the pool of available characters to choose at the start of the game. *ARAM - Added on September 8, 2020, ARAM (All Random, All Mid) is functionally identical to the aforementioned Single-Lanes game mode of Heroes Brawl. Thus, the shift from Heroes Brawl to ARAM amounted to an effective removal of the Arenas and Mutator subcategories of Heroes Brawl. * Custom Games - Often used for tournament play, players can create a lobby and make a predetermined match-up of up to five players versus five players, with the ability to choose the map, whether to enable draft mode, and whether to add AI-controlled heroes and/or allow up to six observers.


Matchmaking

Matchmaking is based on the
Elo rating system The Elo rating system is a method for calculating the relative skill levels of players in zero-sum games such as chess. It is named after its creator Arpad Elo, a Hungarian-American physics professor. The Elo system was invented as an improved c ...
with proprietary adjustments. MMR (matchmaking rating) is calculated individually for each player, and it is tracked separately for every game mode. In ranked mode matchmaker tries to place players with similar ratings together, while generally attempts to balance both teams based on each player's MMR to find and create even games.


Business model

''Heroes of the Storm'' is
free-to-play Free-to-play (F2P or FtP) video games are games that give players access to a significant portion of their content without paying or do not require paying to continue playing. Free-to-play is distinct from traditional commercial software, which ...
, based on the freemium business model, and is supported by
micropayments A micropayment is a financial transaction involving a very small sum of money and usually one that occurs online. A number of micropayment systems were proposed and developed in the mid-to-late 1990s, all of which were ultimately unsuccessful. A s ...
using three in-game currencies: "Gems", "Gold", and "Shards". Gold is
in-game currency A virtual economy (or sometimes synthetic economy) is an emergent economy existing in a virtual world, usually exchanging virtual goods in the context of an online game, particularly in massively multiplayer online games (MMOs). People enter ...
that can be earned by playing the game, completing daily, seasonal and event quests, and leveling up ( Loot Chests can be acquired in the same way). Gold can be used to buy heroes, gold-only mounts, hero mastery rings, Loot Chests and Shards. Gems can be earned in-game or purchased with real money, and Shards are acquired from duplicate items from Loot Chests or purchased with Gold. Players can use either Gems or Shards to buy skins, mounts and other cosmetic elements, such as banners, sprays, announcers, voice lines, emojis, and portraits. Heroes, as the only category in Collection with a material effect on gameplay, may be purchased by either Gems or Gold. Gem-only items in Collection are "bundles" (dynamic groups of ''Heroes of the Storm'' content), and "boosts" (formerly called "stimpacks") which increase Gold and account experience earned per match.


Development

As a part of the arcade feature for '' StarCraft II: Wings of Liberty'', a custom map called "Blizzard DOTA" was announced alongside several other mods of Blizzard Entertainment at BlizzCon 2010. At that time, the map was developed to showcase the modding abilities that were to be added to ''StarCraft II''. In 2011, however, development of ''Blizzard DOTA'' was rebooted and demoed at
BlizzCon 2011 BlizzCon is an annual gaming convention held by Blizzard Entertainment to promote its major franchises including ''Warcraft'', ''StarCraft'', '' Diablo'', ''Hearthstone'', ''Heroes of the Storm,'' and ''Overwatch''. The first BlizzCon was held ...
. In comparison to the previous iteration previewed at BlizzCon 2010, the gameplay was described as "fast" and "streamlined." Following the announcement of '' Dota 2'' by
Valve A valve is a device or natural object that regulates, directs or controls the flow of a fluid (gases, liquids, fluidized solids, or slurries) by opening, closing, or partially obstructing various passageways. Valves are technically fitting ...
,
Rob Pardo Rob Pardo (born June 9, 1970) is an American video game designer. He is the former Chief Creative Officer at Blizzard Entertainment, resigning on July 3, 2014. Previously he was the Executive Vice President of game design at Blizzard Entertainment ...
, the
executive vice president A vice president, also director in British English, is an officer in government or business who is below the president (chief executive officer) in rank. It can also refer to executive vice presidents, signifying that the vice president is on ...
of Blizzard Entertainment, expressed concern at Valve using and trademarking a name that originated from within the ''Warcraft III'' community. Following a failed trademark injunction on the part of Riot Games, Blizzard acquired Riot's subsidiary, DotA-Allstars, LLC., the original company that represented the servicing of ''
Defense of the Ancients ''Defense of the Ancients'' (''DotA'') is a multiplayer online battle arena (MOBA) mod for the video game '' Warcraft III: Reign of Chaos'' (2002) and its expansion, ''The Frozen Throne''. The objective of the game is for each team to destro ...
.'' Subsequently, Blizzard filed an opposition against Valve for claiming the ''DotA'' trademark. On May 11, 2012, Blizzard and Valve announced that the dispute had been settled, with Valve retaining the commercial franchising rights to the term ''"Dota"'', while Blizzard would change the name of ''Blizzard DOTA'' to ''Blizzard All-Stars''. Blizzard, however, will retain the right to use DOTA name non-commercially. This includes promoting DOTA-style maps made for Blizzard games by the community. In June 2012,
Dustin Browder Blizzard Entertainment, Inc. is an American video game developer and publisher based in Irvine, California. A subsidiary of Activision Blizzard, the company was founded on February 8, 1991, under the name Silicon & Synapse, Inc. by three graduat ...
, the director of ''StarCraft II'', stated that ''Blizzard All-Stars'' did not have a release date, but that it would definitely be after the release of '' StarCraft II: Heart of the Swarm''. In February 2013, the
Activision Blizzard Activision Blizzard, Inc. is an American video game holding company based in Santa Monica, California. It was founded in July 2008 through the merger of Activision, Inc. (the publicly traded parent company of Activision Publishing) and Viven ...
fourth quarter 2012 earnings report listed ''Blizzard All-Stars'' as one of the areas of continued investment for Blizzard throughout 2013. Browder commented in March 2013 that a few artists had transitioned from the ''StarCraft II: Heart of the Swarm'' team, to work on ''Blizzard All-Stars'' for the time being along with the few designers on the team. One challenge faced by art team, according to the senior art director
Samwise Didier Sam "Samwise" Didier (born 1971) is an American artist. He serves as senior art director at Blizzard Entertainment, having been with the company since 1991. As the art director for the flagship games of the ''Warcraft'', '' StarCraft'', and ''D ...
, was bringing in three different art styles and themes from ''Warcraft'', ''StarCraft'', and ''Diablo'' in line to make the art style for the game.'' In August 2013 the game went into wider internal testing. Blizzard president
Mike Morhaime Michael "Mike" Morhaime (born November 3, 1967) is an American video game developer and entrepreneur. He is the chief executive officer (CEO) and founder of Dreamhaven, located in Irvine, California. Morhaime is best known as the co-founder and t ...
described it as Blizzard's version of an "action real-time strategy" game. The ''Blizzard All-Stars'' team was expanded in May 2013, from some of the resources who were reallocated when Blizzard's '' Titan'' project was rebooted and the team downsized. On October 17, 2013, the name of the game was changed to ''Heroes of the Storm''. ''Heroes of the Storm'' entered a technical alpha testing phase on March 13, 2014, which went offline on September 22, 2014. The technical alpha went back online on October 7, 2014, for North America, Latin America, South East Asia, Australia, and New Zealand. The servers for Europe, Korea, China, and
Taiwan Taiwan, officially the Republic of China (ROC), is a country in East Asia, at the junction of the East and South China Seas in the northwestern Pacific Ocean, with the People's Republic of China (PRC) to the northwest, Japan to the nort ...
went online in the following weeks. The technical alpha continued until the beginning of the closed beta. Closed beta testing started on January 13, 2015. As of February 2015, over 9 million players had signed up for eligibility to receive an invite to beta testing. The open beta of the game began on May 19, 2015, and the full version of the game was released on June 2, 2015.


Post-release


Promotions

While the game was in Alpha testing, Blizzard ran a promotion as part of the pre-order for '' Diablo III: Reaper of Souls'' which unlocked Valla as a free hero. To mark the release of ''Heroes of the Storm'', Blizzard had crossovers implemented between Blizzard games. Players who reached account level 12 in ''Heroes of the Storm'' received the ''Heroes of the Storm'' themed card back in '' Hearthstone'' and after winning 100 play mode matches in ''Hearthstone'' received the Hearthstone Card mount in ''Heroes of the Storm''. Players who reached account level 20 in ''Heroes of the Storm'' received a Grave Golem battle pet in ''
World of Warcraft ''World of Warcraft'' (''WoW'') is a massively multiplayer online role-playing game (MMORPG) released in 2004 by Blizzard Entertainment. Set in the ''Warcraft'' fantasy universe, ''World of Warcraft'' takes place within the world of Azeroth ...
'' and after reaching level 100 in ''World of Warcraft'' received an Ironside Dire Wolf mount in ''Heroes of the Storm''. After the Diablo hero patch, any player who purchased ''Diablo III'' was given the Diablo hero (Al'Diabolos) free for a limited time; players who reach level 12 in ''Heroes of the Storm'' will receive a unique pennant and portrait frame in ''Diablo III'' and reaching level 70 Season 4 and beyond receive Malthael's Phantom mount in ''Heroes of the Storm''. Players who purchase the '' StarCraft II: Legacy of the Void'' deluxe or collector's editions receive a Void Seeker mount in ''Heroes of the Storm'' and purchasing any edition of ''Legacy of the Void'' unlocks the Artanis hero. Players who purchase the Origins Edition of ''Overwatch'' unlock Tracer as a free hero. During the ''Nexus Challenge'' event (November 15, 2016 – January 4, 2017), each player who completed 15 games of ''Heroes of the Storm'' together with a friend received the Oni Genji skin, Oni Genji Portrait and Oni Genji Spray in ''Overwatch'', and Zarya as a free hero in ''Heroes of the Storm''. After completing 30 games with a friend, players unlocked four additional heroes (Auriel, Greymane, Kerrigan, and Li-Ming), the Orochi Hovercycle mount, and a 30-Day stimpack in ''Heroes of the Storm''. During the ''For Azeroth!'' event (February 14, 2017 – March 14, 2017, then extended for March 17, 2017 – March 26, 2017), each player who completed 15 games of ''Heroes of the Storm'' together with a friend while playing as a ''Warcraft'' character, received a Flames of Judgement Charger mount and a 10-day stimpack to use in-game. They also received a Primal Flamesaber mount for ''World of Warcraft''. During the ''Nexus Challenge 2.0'' event (April 24, 2017 – May 22, 2017), all players could choose to permanently unlock 1 of 4 Mega Bundles; Assassin, Flex, Support & Specialist, and Tanks & Bruisers. For each of the 4 weeks of the event, players who completed 5 matches with a friend could unlock various Overwatch-themed rewards for the players' ''Heroes of the Storm'' and ''Overwatch'' accounts.


''Heroes of the Storm 2.0''

On March 29, 2017, game director Alan Dabiri announced ''Heroes of the Storm 2.0'', described as "a culmination of all the ways Blizzard transformed the Nexus since launch, plus plenty of radical additions on their way". A major feature of the patch was a revamp of the player and hero progression systems. The level caps (40 for players in general, and 20 for individual heroes) were removed, and the uneven experience curve for leveling heroes was smoothed out. Another feature was the introduction of Loot Chests which contain cosmetic rewards, similar to the system used in ''Overwatch''. In addition to heroes, skins, and mounts, the chests can also include new portraits, banners, emojis, custom announcer voices (similar to ''StarCraft II''), hero voice lines, and graffiti sprays (both similar to ''Overwatch''). Loot Chests can be acquired by leveling up or purchased with Gold. The in-game shop was remodeled and retitled "Collection", and two new currencies, "Gems" and "Shards", were added in addition to the existing "Gold" which was the only in-game currency before ''Heroes 2.0'' update. A loadout system for cosmetic additions was also included. As part of the announcement, a new ''Diablo'' hero, the Amazon Cassia, was highlighted. ''Heroes 2.0'' went into beta testing on March 29, and was released on April 25.


Downsizing

On December 13, 2018, Blizzard President J. Allen Brack and Blizzard Chief Development Officer Ray Gresko jointly announced that some developers from ''Heroes of the Storm'' would be moving to other projects, and that the game would be transitioning to a long-term support phase. Blizzard also announced the cancellation of their esports tournaments, Heroes Global Championship and Heroes of the Dorm. Members of the esports community around ''Heroes'' stated they were caught off guard by the announcement and had been told as recently as BlizzCon 2018 that HGC would continue. In a message posted on the game's official forums, production director Kaéo Milker confirmed the game would continue receiving updates and new content, though at a slower pace than before. Blizzard officially stated in July 2022 that ''Heroes of the Storm'' would no longer see any major updates with those remaining on the development team to support the game in a maintenance mode.


Nexus Anomalies

Nexus Anomalies were seasonal gameplay changes that directly affected all game modes in ''Heroes of the Storm''. These events lasted for entire ranked seasons, allowing the developers time to receive feedback on them. Depending on this evaluation, some of the new
game mechanics In tabletop games and video games, game mechanics are the rules or ludemes that govern and guide the player's actions, as well as the game's response to them. A rule is an instruction on how to play, a ludeme is an element of play like the L-sha ...
became permanent additions to the game, while others were discarded after some time. Experience Globes were the first Nexus Anomaly, being introduced in the Deathwing patch of December 2019. As a result of this Nexus Anomaly, players no longer receive experience from simply being near enemy minion deaths, but instead need to gather an Experience Globe dropped by dying Minions, similar to the Regeneration Globes already present in the game. Before the introduction of the Nexus Anomalies, major gameplay updates were typically announced once a year, toward the end of the year. The introduction of any new Nexus Anomalies was ended on December 1, 2020, with Blizzard promising to continue attempting to improve the game in other ways.


Setting and plot

''Heroes of the Storm'' takes place in the Nexus, a strange limbo of clashing
universe The universe is all of space and time and their contents, including planets, stars, galaxies, and all other forms of matter and energy. The Big Bang theory is the prevailing cosmological description of the development of the universe. ...
s which collide from across space, time, and
dimensions In physics and mathematics, the dimension of a mathematical space (or object) is informally defined as the minimum number of coordinates needed to specify any point within it. Thus, a line has a dimension of one (1D) because only one coordin ...
. The Nexus exists in the center of a trans-dimensional cosmic storm and is connected to other universes. The storm of the Nexus, which has incomprehensible amounts of energy, can rip worlds and universes in and out of existence, and it can also pull worlds into stability. Some of the central realms in the Nexus, such as Raven Court, King's Crest, and Luxoria, are examples of these points of stability. Every Realm within the Nexus has one stone called "Singularity", and only the one who achieves it through conquest can become the Realm Lord. A singularity stone grants to its possessor an almost demigod-like status, but not
immortality Immortality is the concept of eternal life. Some modern species may possess biological immortality. Some scientists, futurists, and philosophers have theorized about the immortality of the human body, with some suggesting that human immorta ...
. Many powerful warriors have been sucked into the Nexus, including combatants from Azeroth,
Sanctuary A sanctuary, in its original meaning, is a sacred place, such as a shrine. By the use of such places as a haven, by extension the term has come to be used for any place of safety. This secondary use can be categorized into human sanctuary, a sa ...
, and the Koprulu sector. New combatants are constantly arriving, some of them are chosen after they died in their original
reality Reality is the sum or aggregate of all that is real or existent within a system, as opposed to that which is only imaginary. The term is also used to refer to the ontological status of things, indicating their existence. In physical terms, r ...
. A hero called Qhira, came into the Nexus after her world Iresia and its singularity stone were destroyed, holding only a singularity shard from Iresia, and calling it the "mother crystal". Numerous worlds exist within the multiverse of the Nexus which are referred to as "realms". While many of these worlds are nexus-generated, some are mirrored versions of those found within Blizzard's franchises, but they can contain alternate universe versions of various heroes, indicated by hero skins in the game.


Music

''Heroes of the Storm's'' playlist combines an original
soundtrack A soundtrack is recorded music accompanying and synchronised to the images of a motion picture, drama, book, television program, radio program, or video game; a commercially released soundtrack album of music as featured in the soundtrack o ...
with soundtracks from Blizzard's other franchises. The original soundtrack for ''Heroes of the Storm'' was composed by Blizzard Entertainment's composers, Glenn Stafford, and Jason Hayes. Other music in the game is present as background music, or represents specific universes with connections to the various Heroes within ''Heroes of the Storm''. Also present within the game's playlist are soundtracks from '' Starcraft'', such as ''Terran'' and ''Zerg Theme''; various soundtracks from ''
World of Warcraft ''World of Warcraft'' (''WoW'') is a massively multiplayer online role-playing game (MMORPG) released in 2004 by Blizzard Entertainment. Set in the ''Warcraft'' fantasy universe, ''World of Warcraft'' takes place within the world of Azeroth ...
'', such as ''Obsidian Sanctum'' from ''
Wrath of the Lich King ''World of Warcraft: Wrath of the Lich King'' is the second expansion set for the massively multiplayer online role-playing game (MMORPG) ''World of Warcraft'', following '' The Burning Crusade''. It launched on November 13, 2008 and sold 2.8 m ...
'', and ''The Wandering Isle'' from ''
Mists of Pandaria ''World of Warcraft: Mists of Pandaria'' is the fourth expansion set for the massively multiplayer online role-playing game (MMORPG) ''World of Warcraft'', following ''Cataclysm''. It was announced on October 21, 2011, by Chris Metzen at BlizzCon ...
;'' soundtracks from '' Diablo'', such as ''Jungle'' from ''
Diablo II ''Diablo II'' is an action role-playing hack-and-slash video game developed by Blizzard North and published by Blizzard Entertainment in 2000 for Microsoft Windows, Classic Mac OS, and macOS. The game, with its dark fantasy and horror the ...
(''Act III), and ''Reaper of Souls'' from ''
Diablo III ''Diablo III'' is a hack-and-slash action role-playing game developed and published by Blizzard Entertainment as the third installment in the ''Diablo'' franchise. It was released for Microsoft Windows and OS X in May 2012, PlayStation 3 and Xb ...
''; as well as soundtracks from ''
Overwatch ''Overwatch'' is a multimedia franchise centered on a series of online multiplayer first-person shooter (FPS) video games developed by Blizzard Entertainment: '' Overwatch'' released in 2016, and ''Overwatch 2'' released in 2022. Both games f ...
'', such as ''Overture'' and ''Hanamura'' theme; and ''Smugglers Cove'' from ''
The Lost Vikings 2 ''Lost Vikings 2'' is a 1997 puzzle-platform game developed by Beam Software and published by Interplay. All versions of the game, except the SNES release, were titled ''Lost Vikings 2: Norse by Norsewest'' (''Norse by Norse West: The Return of T ...
''. ''The Battle Begins'' by Glenn Stafford is the main theme of ''Heroes of the Storm''.


Reception

''Heroes of the Storm'' received generally favorable reviews upon release.
Metacritic Metacritic is a website that review aggregator, aggregates reviews of films, TV shows, music albums, video games and formerly, books. For each product, the scores from each review are averaged (a weighted arithmetic mean, weighted average). M ...
calculated an average score of 86 out of 100, indicating "generally favorable reviews", based on 57 reviews.
GameSpot ''GameSpot'' is an American video gaming website that provides news, reviews, previews, downloads, and other information on video games. The site was launched on May 1, 1996, created by Pete Deemer, Vince Broady and Jon Epstein. In addition ...
awarded it 9 out of 10, summarizing "A fantastic casual-competitive game that offers untold hours of enjoyment." Positive reviews praised its objective-based gameplay and greater accessibility than its competitors, with
Destructoid ''Destructoid'' is a website that was founded as a video game-focused blog in March 2006 by Yanier Gonzalez, a Cuban-American cartoonist and author. Enthusiast Gaming acquired the website in 2017, and sold it to Gamurs Group in 2022. History ' ...
's Chris Carter giving it a 9.5 out of 10 and calling it "A hallmark of excellence." In a review for
PC Gamer ''PC Gamer'' is a magazine and website founded in the United Kingdom in 1993 devoted to PC gaming and published monthly by Future plc. The magazine has several regional editions, with the UK and US editions becoming the best selling PC games ma ...
, Chris Thursten focused on the game's accessibility, giving it a score of 84 out of 100 and concluding "The most any studio has done to open up a complex genre to a new audience. Inviting, entertaining, and deceptively deep." The Escapist's CJ Miozzi stated that while its improved accessibility would make it interesting to players normally not interested in the genre, it could be less attractive to experienced players. Giving it 4 out of 5 stars, he summarized that "At the very least, it's a game that all gamers should try."
Polygon In geometry, a polygon () is a plane figure that is described by a finite number of straight line segments connected to form a closed ''polygonal chain'' (or ''polygonal circuit''). The bounded plane region, the bounding circuit, or the two to ...
's Arthur Gies approved of the title's accessibility but expressed worry that "sometimes something eltlost along the way," scoring it at 7.5 out of 10. On release,
IGN ''IGN'' (formerly ''Imagine Games Network'') is an American video game and entertainment media website operated by IGN Entertainment Inc., a subsidiary of Ziff Davis, Inc. The company's headquarters is located in San Francisco's SoMa distri ...
's Mitch Dyer gave the game a mixed review and concluded, "''Heroes of the Storm'' is a flawed, varied MOBA with terrific team fighting and poor objectives," awarding it a 6.5 out of 10. This review prompted an initially negative reaction from the game's community that turned the score into an
internet meme An Internet meme, commonly known simply as a meme ( ), is an idea, behavior, style, or image that is spread via the Internet, often through social media platforms. What is considered a meme may vary across different communities on the Internet ...
, eventually being recognized by Blizzard themselves in a humorous promotional video for an update to the game.
IGN ''IGN'' (formerly ''Imagine Games Network'') is an American video game and entertainment media website operated by IGN Entertainment Inc., a subsidiary of Ziff Davis, Inc. The company's headquarters is located in San Francisco's SoMa distri ...
's re-review by Ian Nowakowski awarded it 8 out of 10 in March 2018, saying the game "packs a ton of variety and excellent characters. Some of this MOBA's modes work better than others, but it's a safe bet that it'll deliver a fun match." The game was nominated for "Choice Video Game" at the 2017 Teen Choice Awards.


Notes


References


External links

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