Esports in Hearthstone has historically been one of the most exciting and competitive parts of Blizzard’s digital TCG. In 2022, Hearthstone esports featured a total prize pool of $3 million spread across more than a dozen events. This year, Hearthstone only has seven events with a total prize pool of $650,000 dollars–nearly five times less than last year.
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This Hearthstone esports cycle will consist of three Masters Tour Seasonal Championships leading into the 2023 World Championship. The World Championship will have a prize pool of $500,000, but the Masters Tours themselves will not have any prizes for the victors beyond qualifications for the final contest. The remaining $150,000 will be split among three Hearthstone Battlegrounds: Lobby Legends tournaments, each coordinating with one of the card sets coming to Hearthstone this year.
This drastic reduction toward the esports program has come at shock and disappointment to both Hearthstone players and developers alike. Several Hearthstone casters and devs have voiced their displeasure in what ways they can without risking their careers. Hearthstone senior game designer and initial design lead Cora Georgiou and features lead Chad “Celestalon” Nervig were among those who expressed their frustration and sadness on their personal Twitter accounts.
Some players hope Hearthstone is able to breathe life back into its esports program. In the past, Hearthstone sold special cosmetics and card bundles to help contribute to esports prize pools, and many would love Blizzard to bring these back so they can support competitive play. Others think it would be better for Hearthstone to reduce the World Championship pool and to add prizes to the Masters Tours. As it stands, if this reduction could be a bad sign for Hearthstone’s future.
Hearthstone is available now for Mobile and PC.
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