Three years ago at BlizzCon Overwatch League was announced. That day was a happy day for the esposts and Blizzard community. But I couldn’t help think that things like HGC (The Heros Global Champion) would either change or be axed. A year after Overwatch league launched HGC is no more. I want to say before you read the rest of this. That this is all speculation and my opinion, as to what lead to Activision Blizzard killing off HGC and Heroes of the Dorm.
What Was HGC:
The heroes Global Championship was Heroes of the Storms pro league. Teams from across different regions would compete every weekend to qualify for land events, that where held quarterly. After the regular season was over, the best of the best went to a land event at Blizzcon where the HGC Champion was crowned.
On December 13th 2018 Activision Blizzard announced they would not be doing HGC or Heroes of the Dorm in 2019. This came after weeks of teams and fans alike complaining to Blizzard about what was going on with HGC. They finally got their answer and it wasn’t what they wanted to hear. Though I feel like their had been clues before the announcement was made.
Clues:
I feel like we had clues that things were a miss be hind the seance. For me my big clue that something might be wrong was when one of the North American announcers was leaving. Now thats not too odd, announcers leave for other leagues and jobs all the time. Something about a video Gillyweed made. Where she said she was not going to be part of HGC for the next season (the season that never happened). She seemed liked she might have known that there was something off with HGC. As far as anyone knows most of the teams and only found out like an hour before the the December 13th message.
The biggest clue to me was the silence after the finals had happen. When the players cant even get a confirmation that the league was going to happen in 2019. That should send off red alert sounds in your head. I of course tried to stay positive though in the back of my head. But I knew when Blizzard did say something it wasn't going to be good news.
Overwatch League:
Overwatch league was announced back at BlizzCon 2016. They then had their Inaugural season last year 2018. In-between the announcement and first match we learned that Overwatch League was going to be whole new beast to the esports seance. Unlike many esports leagues, team owners have to make a significant investment when owning teams. The reported coast for a team spot in the overwatch league is around $30 million. Most other esports you can own a team for around $600K.
With that being said, you can see why Blizzard might want to move the other esports leagues to this model or get rid of them. Lucky for the teams and Activision Blizzard the first season was success. With season 2 starting in a few weeks.
Overwater League killed the Heroes Star?:
From everything I have seen it seems like OWL is a much safer and financially better than HGC. When it comes down to it that’s what matters to Activision Blizzard, and any company running a esports league. HGC was never the most popular too which I’m sure had something to do with the cancellation of the league.
Luckily for Heroes esports Community run leagues have popped up so they will still have a outlet. But who knows what will happen to blizzards other esports. For now HGC is the only casualty. Maybe they will find ways to make the other leagues more profitable for Activision Blizzard and the teams, so they don’t end up like HGC.