As we close out 2018, Blizzard is doing a little restructuring with its development teams as we head into 2019. Citing a constant "changing and evolving" of their games and "how we support and grow them," Blizzard will be taking developers off of Heroes of the Storm and will move them to teams working on already existing games and even new projects that have yet to be announced.
"This evolution is vital to our ability to continue doing what we love to do—making great games—and it’s what makes Blizzard, Blizzard," Blizzard execs J. Allen Brack and Ray Gresko wrote.
Over the past several years, the work of evaluating our development processes and making hard decisions has led to new games and other products that we’re proud of. We now have more live games and unannounced projects than at any point in the company’s history. We’re also at a point where we need to take some of our talented developers and bring their skills to other projects. As a result, we’ve made the difficult decision to shift some developers from Heroes of the Storm to other teams, and we’re excited to see the passion, knowledge, and experience that they’ll bring to those projects. This isn’t the first time we’ve had to make tough choices like this. Games like Diablo II, World of Warcraft, StarCraft II, Overwatch, and more would not exist had we not made similar decisions in the past.
The good news is
Heroes of the Storm will still exist. It has not been canceled. Blizzard says they'll still "actively support" the game with new heroes, themed events, and other content, though they admit "the cadence will change."
"Ultimately, we’re setting up the game for long-term sustainability," they wrote.
"We’re so grateful for the support the community has shown from the beginning, and the development team will continue to support Heroes with the same passion, dedication, and creativity that has made the game such a unique experience."
Part of the shift in plans also means a change in
Heroes of the Storm's competitive scene. The Heroes Global Championship and Heroes of the Dorm eSports tournaments will not return in 2019.
"This was another very difficult decision for us to make," they said.
"The love that the community has for these programs is deeply felt by everyone who works on them, but we ultimately feel this is the right decision versus moving forward in a way that would not meet the standards that players and fans have come to expect.
While it's unfortunate news that
Heroes of the Storm doesn't appear to be doing as well as one would hope, it's at least comforting that there have been no reports of layoffs at the company. We'll hopefully get more information soon regarding the new content schedule for the MOBA as well as details about any future projects that may come of this shift in structure.