Summary
Heroes of the Storm, the cross-franchise Blizzard MOBA title, just got a massive surprise update. This promising patch has led many fans to wonder ifBlizzardis planning a revival of the MOBA game, which went into maintenance mode last year.
In 2015, Blizzard first launchedHeroes of the Storm, its franchise-crossing MOBA title featuring heroes and villains fromWarcraft,StarCraft,Diablo,Overwatch, and even some of its older games likeThe Lost Vikings. Shortly after its seven-year anniversary in 2022, however, it announcedHeroes of the Stormwould no longer be receiving regular content updates. Since then, the game has remained active with a small player base, but has otherwise only received occasional balance updates and bug fixes.
Recently, Adam Fletcher, Blizzard’s global community development director forDiablo, shared a massive Public Test Realm patch forHeroes of the Storm. Like previous patches, this update includes bug fixes, balance updates, and other general changes. However, this huge update is far larger than any other that has been released sinceHeroes of the Stormwent into maintenance mode, suggesting there may be something else going on with the gamenow that Microsoft has acquired Blizzard.
Technically,Heroes of the Stormreceived another bug-fixing patch on September 20 of this year as well. While this patch was not nearly the size of the most recent one, this is the first time Blizzard has released two updates within a month of each other since the development change, with previous ones anywhere from two to six months apart.
Between the size of this update and the proximity to the previous one, many fans are wondering if Blizzard is planning a revival forHeroes of the Storm. The game has a cult following, and with the new releases over the last couple of years, there are plenty of new characters the game could add. On top of that, the recent acquisition of Blizzard by Microsoft could spell a new beginning for the defunct MOBA, especially consideringXbox head Phil Spencer wants to revisit old franchises.
That said,Heroes of the Stormfans shouldn’t get too excited yet. Blizzard has yet to announce anything formally beyond these patch notes, so it could just be a larger-than-average balance patch. Players also probably won’t hear anything aboutHeroes of the Stormthis year at BlizzCon, considering the convention floor plan had no space reserved for it. Even so, this PTR patch is proof Blizzard hasn’t forgotten about its MOBA yet–and that is enough to give fans ofHeroes of the Stormhope for the future.
