Blizzard beefs up support for Heroes of the Storm’s esports league

It’s tough to grow a game into a viable esport, but Blizzard has plans to invest in its online arena battler to accomplish exactly that.

Heroes of the Storm’s Global Championship league is expanding in 2017 as the publisher makes moves to stabilize the competitive scene for its MOBA (multiplayer online battle arena, like the segment-leading League of Legends) featuring an all-star cast of characters from its other games. Blizzard revealed that it will create a uniform format for the leagues in North America, Europe, China, and South Korea that guarantees compensation and regular matches for the pros on the top eight teams in each region. Esports is a growing market worth $493 million, but companies like Blizzard are primarily interested in it for its ability to generate buzz and engagement around the game and its microtransactions. With that in mind, Blizzard wants to have teams that are ready and willing to compete more often.