For the first time in Hearthstone history, a woman has been crowned the title of World Champion and BlizzCon Champion at the annual event held at the Anaheim Convention Center. In front of a packed crowd of fans watching on, Xiaomeng "VKLiooon" Li swept Brian "Bloodyface" Eason in three straight games to take the title of the best player in the world, along with a $200,000 cash prize on Saturday afternoon.
After a rough calendar year in which the competitive scene was slashed, developers were pulled from the title, and new content was few and far between, Heroes of Storm looks to regain momentum in 2020 following what was announced at BlizzCon Friday morning. At the annual gaming event held at the Anaheim Convention Center, thousands traveled from around the world to celebrate what has, can, and will be coming to their favorite titles.
BlizzCon 2019 was something that Blizzard was expected go all-in on, but with only two days before the start of the convention, the community is calling that into question based on controversy surrounding the prize pool for the WoW Arena World Championship and the Wow Mythic Dungeon International.
Humans and Orcs will once again return to the battlefield against one another as Warcraft III: Reforged's multiplayer beta is set to begin this week. According to a press release sent from Activision Blizzard, players will be able to play as either Humans or Orcs in 1v1 or 2v2 matchmaking games. Fear not lovers of the Undead and Night Elf races, both classes will be coming in the upcoming weeks alongside new game modes.
Every year since 2005, tens of thousands of gaming enthusiasts travel from around the world to California to experience BlizzCon. There are few places like it on earth. From cosplayers posing for photos to hundreds standing in line to try out the newest demos to a sea of fans listening to Activision Blizzard executives announce what's the come for their company, it's a gaming utopia for many. As BlizzCon is scheduled to kick off next Friday, November 1 at the Anaheim Convention Center, Inven Global decided to look at what's been revealed, hinted at and leaked thus far in terms of potential upcoming announcements.
The time has come. Just a little later than some (many) would have liked. On Tuesday afternoon, the Heroes of the Storm social media team dropped, arguably, one of the most anticipated tweets in the game's history. The time has come. Just a little later than some (many) would have liked. On Tuesday afternoon, the Heroes of the Storm social media team dropped, arguably, one of the most anticipated tweets in the game's history. However, as the years went by, there was one name that kept appearing in posts on Reddit, social media, and in the conversation surrounding the game...Deathwing. Fans held out hope that the next hero would be The Destroyer but, patch after patch, year after year, he was passed by.
Ever since Riot Games released Teamfight Tactics over three months ago, the development team has been learning, growing, and listening to the community for feedback. It hasn't always been seamless and mistakes have been made along the way. But they're willing to acknowledge that and work towards improving the game that countless fans enjoy around the world. On Tuesday morning, Stephen Mortimer, the title's Principal Game Designer, released a blog post on League of Legend's official site titled "/DEV: TFT SET 1 LEARNINGS" that outlined just that: What the team has learned in the first few months since the game went live.
Ahead of Tuesday's Teamfight Tactics' blog post that is detailing what's to come in set two, titled "Rise of the Elements," Riot Games has partnered with popular community figures to slowly release information for fans of the title. On Monday morning, two Youtubers and a Turkish influencer revealed new champions and origins debuting when the 9.22 patch goes live in the coming weeks.
On Friday morning, Stephen "Mortdog" Mortimer, the lead designer of Riot Game's Teamfight Tactics, unveiled details of what's to come in next week's 9.21 patch, the final one before Set 2 kicks off. To the delight of those who have been playing the game since 9.20 went live, Pantheon, and the Guardian bonus as a whole, are being nerfed. Additionally, Lissandra and Draven are being knocked down a few pegs in terms of their effectiveness. The Hextech origin is being tweaked as well.
On Wednesday morning, The Pokémon Company unveiled its newest addition to Pokémon Sword and Sword, which is set to release next month, and he's a little round in the mid-section. Based on his original model when he was first created back in 1998, Pikachu is turning back the clock and snacking on a few too many Rare Candies.
One week after Activision Blizzard announced a joint-party with Nintendo to celebrate the launch of Overwatch on the Nintendo Switch, the event was called off. On Tuesday morning, Nintendo's official New York City-branch Twitter account shared the information that Blizzard was pulling out of the event amid protests going on within and outside the company.
Few individuals are as synonymous with the competitive Hearthstone scene as Nathan "Admirable" Zamora. Known for his analytical mind, quick-quips, and beard, Admirable's work behind the desk has allowed him to work within the budding esports' scene since its' early days. Currently, he's one of North America's Grandmasters on-air talent. That may all be coming to an end, according to a statement he shared on his personal Twitter account Thursday evening.
On Wednesday morning, Tim Sweeney, the Chief Executive Officer and founder of Epic Games -- the creator of the global phenomenon, Fortnite -- took to his official Twitter account to let it be known that his company stands behind freedom of speech amid controversy taking place within the video game industry. All of this began on Sunday when professional Hearthstone player, Ng "blitzchung" Wai Chung, dedicated his post-match interview live on Activision Blizzard's official Twitch broadcast to call for the liberation of Hong Kong amid political turmoil in China.
It was only a matter of time until an influencer within the Hearthstone community would issue a public statement regarding Activision Blizzard's recent decision to ban Ng "blitzchung" Wai Chung for using his post-game interview to make a political statement calling for the liberation of Hong Kong amid political unrest out east. The first domino fell Wednesday morning when long-time caster, popular streamer, and community figure, Brian Kibler, shared a statement on his official website. Not one to shy away from speaking his mind or voicing his stances on politics, Kibler did not hold back his feelings as this one hits particularly close to home for him.
Hearthstone's meta just got a little spookier. Starting on Tuesday, October 8 at 10 a.m. PDT, the Hearthstone team will kick off the newest in-game event titled "Hallow's End: Doom in the Tomb." Until the event ends on October 30, new (Or...old) cards will be thrown back into the Standard card pool, a brand new Tavern Brawl can be played, dual-class Arena will return once again, and much, much more.
Halloween is coming to Hearthstone and the League of Explorers will have their hands full yet again. Starting on Tuesday, October 8 at 10 a.m. PDT, the Hearthstone team will kick off the newest in-game event titled "Hallow's End: Doom in the Tomb." Until the event ends on October 30, new (Or...old) cards will be thrown back into the Standard card pool, a brand new Tavern Brawl can be played, dual-class Arena will return once again, and much, much more. For a list of all 23 cards returning to Standard check out our story here.
On Wednesday morning, ReKTGlobal, the parent company of Rogue esports announced its newest investor who also happens to be their first in the traditional sports world, according to a press release from the company. Professional NBA player, Rudy Gobert of the Utah Jazz, joins an investment team of icons in the music industry such as Steve Aoki, DJ Nicky Romero, Imagine Dragons, and Tainy.
Juan "jschritte" Passos appreciates the little things in life. He has no other choice, actually. It wasn't long ago that jschritte was a professional Heroes of the Storm player until Activision Blizzard, the game's publisher, pulled the plug on the competitive scene, sending hundreds into unemployment in a moment's notice. Everything that jschritte had worked for was gone. He was left wondering what to do with his life but knew there would be a light at the end of the dark and ominous tunnel.
Two days after the Teamfight Tactics development released the 9.16B patch, next week's update was teased. According to Principal Game Designer, Stephen Mortimer, patch 9.17 is tentatively buffing, nerfing and reworking over one dozen units, items and interactions. Oh, and a new five-cost unit will be entering the arena as well...Pantheon.
Long before Hearthstone was announced in March of 2013, the development team had been making cards to go into the game. In the six-plus years since, thousands upon thousands of cards have been theorycrafted, designed, coded, tested, implemented, played and enjoyed. Cards with a more basic "pack filler" design may take only a few man-hours to create, design and test before they go live. And others, the development cycle can be much longer. In the most recent Hearthstone card expansion Saviors of Uldum the development team pushed their creative limits to new heights by creating a card that took more man-hours than any other in the game's history, Zephrys the Great. A unique design that combines skill and luck, this genie means business and has captured players interest since the expansion went live in recent weeks.
