With the 2018 Heroes Global Championship (HGC) Finals over, it was only a matter of time before Blizzard Entertainment announced what the 2019 Season would consist of. For some reason, we’re still waiting on that announcement. This is rather odd, considering that at this time we would normally have a set schedule and a specific date for the next Season. Recently, a source has told The Esports Observer that all teams in the HGC circuit have “received no official word from developer Blizzard Entertainment regarding whether or not the game’s professional league will continue in 2019.”
This is not a good sign, especially since Overwatch and Hearthstone, two other Blizzard IP’s with well known esports leagues, have already ironed our their 2019 plans. In addition, two prominent HGC Casters (Announcers), Jaycie “Gillyweed” Gluck, and Tim “Trikslyr” Frazier have announced that they will not return to HGC in 2019. With their job security at stake, multiple HGC teams, casters, and other fans have taken to twitter in an attempt to get Blizzard to make a statement on the lack of communication.
It’s quite an alarming situation, as hundreds, if not thousands, of people may have to look elsewhere to compete. Worse, some players might have to learn an entirely new game, and doing that in the world of esports this late in the offseason is extremely difficult. Blizzard’s inability to give any information for HGC in 2019 might have something to do with the behind the scenes, as the anonymous source from The Esports Observer also states that this time last year they were given all the necessary information for the upcoming season. “This time however there is a complete lack of information even on small things like HGC accounts for players who are new to HGC.”
One huge potential factor is money, as the HGC production is a very expensive endeavor. The company took a bit of hit in the stock market after BlizzCon 2018, dropping almost 7%, resulting in a massive loss for the company. Also, a vast majority of HGC teams do not have professional esports organizations backing them, unlike League of Legends and Dota 2, resulting in those teams being unable to travel to events and shoulder other expenses. This is more than likely what the company is trying to figure out before deciding on the teams and schedules, but it doesn’t help the fact that it’s this late in the offseason.
It would be a sad end for HGC if Blizzard decided to cut it off completely, as there are fans clearly dedicated to watching and playing the game each season. Hopefully we hear something, anything, from Blizzard regarding HGC, because if they don’t do it soon, more teams and players will jump ship to another competitive scene. With only a few weeks left in 2018, and with absolutely no information to go on, the chances of seeing the HGC 2019 Season are not good.