The MOBA Heroes of the Storm by Blizzard is officially dead. The game is shifting to maintenance mode – no new content will be released.
It has been evident for quite some time, but now the (unfortunately) moment has come. The MOBA from Blizzard, Heroes of the Storm, is practically dead. The developers have announced that the game will now enter maintenance mode. This likely marks the last chapter in the history of this Blizzard game.
What did Blizzard say? In an official blog post, Blizzard spoke about Heroes of the Storm. They mentioned that HotS is now celebrating its 7th birthday this June – only to follow it up with bad news for the fans. It states:
In the future, we will support Heroes [of the Storm] in a similar way to our other long-standing games StarCraft and StarCraft II.
Or in other words: The game will enter “maintenance mode”.
There is a farewell gift: Next week, there will be a small patch that activates the mount “Epic Arcane Chaos Axe” for all players.
What does maintenance mode mean? This means that there will be no new content in the game. New heroes, maps, or skins are essentially dead. However, the shop will remain active, and all features necessary for normal operation – such as rotating hero selections – will continue to function. The developers also want to further improve the game client and make balance changes when necessary.
However, no one should expect major hero reworks, as we have seen in recent years. The game will largely remain in its current state.
How have the last years been for HotS? Rather slow. Several years ago, it was announced at BlizzCon that the development team for HotS was drastically reduced. New heroes arrived only very rarely. From “one new hero every 2-3 months” it became “one new hero per year” – and now indeed none at all. Even back then, many suspected that it was only a matter of time before the development of new content would cease entirely – that time has now come.
What did Heroes of the Storm want to be? With Heroes of the Storm, Blizzard aimed to provide an answer to DOTA and League of Legends. They wanted to score with the well-known Blizzard heroes from all major franchises.
Unlike other MOBAs on the market, it had some unique features. For instance, HotS did not use a shop system and instead utilized talents. The entire team also shared an experience level, allowing everyone to work towards a common goal. Additionally, every map had extra objectives that went beyond the simple “break the enemy defense.” These objectives forced team fights and gave the game its own dynamic.
Nonetheless, Heroes of the Storm simply could never take off like other MOBAs – partly because it missed the right timing.
Will you still play Heroes of the Storm in maintenance mode? Or will this MOBA finally be removed from your hard drive with this announcement?
