IRVINE, Calif.—June 2, 2015— Grab your warglaives, load up your chain gun, and prepare to go ham on the core—Heroes of the Storm™ is now LIVE! Players can download the game free at www.heroesofthestorm.com and (stage) dive into pulse-pounding battle, smashing through forts, brawling with mercenaries, and annihilating the enemy's base as iconic heroes from the Blizzard multiverse.
Heroes of the Storm delivers rowdy team brawls with quick matches, dynamic Battlegrounds, and Blizzard’s trademark strategic gameplay and humor. In Heroes of the Storm, players form teams of five heroes or villains from Blizzard’s different game universes, including Warcraft®, StarCraft®, and Diablo®, and battle other teams for glory in the Nexus. No matter which roles they choose, players are able to make meaningful contributions to their team’s war effort, and everyone is rewarded for a team victory.
“Nowhere else can you find your favorite heroes and villains from different Blizzard games teaming up and duking it out in short, action-packed battles,” said Mike Morhaime, CEO and cofounder of Blizzard Entertainment. “Players battled each other in over 100 million matches during testing, and we saw tons of surprising strategies and insane last-minute wins—we can’t wait to see what else players come up with now that Heroes of the Storm is officially live.”
Fun and variety lie at the heart of Heroes of the Storm. Players have a wide range of options for customizing how their heroes look and play, with different abilities, skins, and mounts to suit their strategy and personality. And as a place where universes collide, the Nexus features several unique and colorful Battlegrounds, each with different objectives that shape gameplay and create a team-brawler experience unlike any other. The game currently has 37 playable Heroes and 7 Battlegrounds—and more of both are on the way.
Heroes of the Storm also features multiple gameplay modes for players of every skill level, including cooperative Versus AI, in which players team up against computer-controlled opponents, and Quick Match, an accessible way to jump in and play versus others. Experienced players can also join forces against other teams in highly competitive, draft-style ranked play.
In celebration of the game’s launch, players who enter the Nexus within the first week (June 2–8) will receive a special in-game portrait. Players will also receive XP boosts during the first three weeks of launch—perfect for working toward that shiny new Master Skin.
Everyone is invited to tune in to the Heroes of the Storm YouTube channel Saturday, June 6, from 12 p.m.–3 p.m. PDT for a special online event—Heroes of the Storm: The Mayhem Begins. Live-streamed from the YouTube studios in Los Angeles, the event will include a sneak peek at never-before-seen content presented by members of the development team, as well as showmatches featuring Jesse Cox, Cloud9, and the reigning Heroes of the Dorm champions, UC Berkeley.
Following on the success of Heroes of the Dorm, the first collegiate eSports tournament to be telecast live on an ESPN network, Heroes of the Storm is launching with an intense Road to BlizzCon eSports tournament, featuring competition spanning the Americas, Europe, China, South Korea, and Taiwan. Over 1.2 million USD is up for grabs, and the top eight teams will face off at BlizzCon® on November 6–7 in Anaheim, California. Head over to the Road to BlizzCon announcement blog to learn more and sign up for a shot at becoming the best Heroes of the Storm team in the world.
Heroes of the Storm is available for Windows® and Mac® PC and has received a Teen rating from the ESRB. In addition to the English version, the game is localized into French, German, European Spanish, Russian, Italian, Polish, Latin American Spanish, Brazilian Portuguese, Korean, Simplified Chinese, and Traditional Chinese. Visit www.heroesofthestorm.com to learn more, download the game, and jump into battle!
With multiple games in development, Blizzard Entertainment has numerous positions currently available—visit http://jobs.blizzard.com for more information and to learn how to apply.
Best known for blockbuster hits including World of Warcraft® and the Warcraft, StarCraft, and Diablo franchises, Blizzard Entertainment, Inc. (www.blizzard.com), a division of Activision Blizzard (NASDAQ: ATVI), is a premier developer and publisher of entertainment software renowned for creating some of the industry’s most critically acclaimed games. Blizzard Entertainment’s track record includes nineteen #1 games* and multiple Game of the Year awards. The company’s online-gaming service, Battle.net®, is one of the largest in the world, with millions of active players.
*Sales and/or downloads. Based on internal company records and reports from key distribution partners.
Cautionary Note Regarding Forward-looking Statements: Information in this press release that involves Blizzard Entertainment's expectations, plans, intentions or strategies regarding the future, including statements about Heroes of the Storm, are forward-looking statements that are not facts and involve a number of risks and uncertainties. Factors that could cause Blizzard Entertainment's actual future results to differ materially from those expressed in the forward-looking statements set forth in this release include unanticipated product delays and other factors identified in the risk factors sections of Activision Blizzard’s most recent annual report on Form 10-K and any subsequent quarterly reports on Form 10-Q. The forward-looking statements in this release are based upon information available to Blizzard Entertainment and Activision Blizzard as of the date of this release, and neither Blizzard Entertainment nor Activision Blizzard assumes any obligation to update any such forward-looking statements. Forward-looking statements believed to be true when made may ultimately prove to be incorrect. These statements are not guarantees of the future performance of Blizzard Entertainment or Activision Blizzard and are subject to risks, uncertainties and other factors, some of which are beyond its control and may cause actual results to differ materially from current expectations.