Hell, it’s about time.
Blizzard’s multiplayer online battle arena (MOBA) Heroes of the Storm officially comes out June 2. The free-to-play PC game has been in a closed beta since January. It’s also been in a technical alpha state since March 2014. This gives Blizzard a chance to take advantage of the incredibly lucrative MOBA market, which makes $54 million a month in the United States alone.
Blizzard originally announced the Heroes of the Storm in 2010, though it was originally called Blizzard DOTA and was originally going to be a mod for StarCraft II. Now, it’s a standalone game that combines characters from classic franchises like Warcraft, Diablo, and StarCraft.
The MOBA genre is incredibly popular, with games like League of Legends and Dota 2 consistently some of the most-played titles on PC. The original MOBA, Defense of the Ancients, was a player-made custom map for Warcraft III. However, Blizzard itself had nothing to do with its creation. Heroes of the Storm is its first swing at the genre.