Good news everyone! After Hearthstone Esports was taken away to the dark corners of YouTube live for the past three years, they're coming back to Twitch!
Blizzard's move to YouTube which was a small part of a multi-year strategic relationship between them and Google, seemingly came to an end late last year when Call of Duty League ended up back on Twitch and brought in large numbers. Blizzard has now confirmed that for Hearthstone too with today's announcement, which hopefully will see an increase in viewership.
- Poor Esports Performance
- Drops Returning to Twitch
- Changes for 2023
- 2023 Season Schedule
- 2023 Prize Pools
- Official Announcement
- Frequently Asked Questions
Hearthstones Poor Esports Performance
The World Championship for any game title should be a huge even with it being the primary talk of the community and if not larger numbers than ever, at least consistency. Hearthstone certainly kept it's consistency - consistency in dropping. As tracked by Esports Charts, 2022's world championship event didn't do very well compared to the events prior in the peak viewers metric.
Comparison of World Championship events over the years.
Every event that was on YouTube, which included 2020, 2021, and 2022 all performed horribly. This isn't as simple as being on Twitch or YouTube though as difference in formats, how players retain interest in tournament meta, and even just which players are in it, will dictate how well these events do. Aside from Hearthstone's drop in players of the years, a fact of any older game, Blizzard also has changed the way they engage with these events and could be doing a lot more to promote them.
Or, perhaps the streaming platform is the main problem for Hearthstone Esports. Twitch's easy to navigate streaming platform pushes the focus on streamers which YouTube doesn't have a great interface for. With better interface comes more viewers. More viewers means more people that would be interested in competing because their name can get out there more (though the format matters for this too).
Thijs' Standard Twitch Rivals, Death Knight Showmatch, and Battlegrounds' Lobby Legends events all did well on Twitch, beating out the World Championships in peak viewership.
Even the lower Lobby Legends events about matched the World Championships.
Drops Returning to Twitch!
YouTube's drop system was confusing to users with delayed activations, buggy behaviour, and accounts that wouldn't sync at all. With drops making a return to Twitch this should improve the experience for viewers and hopefully get some more idlers in there to bump the numbers to the Esports team can show Blizzard this was a good call and definitely not artificially inflated.
Snarky comments aside, this is genuinely positive thing for Hearthstone Esports. There's always a chance someone that just wanted packs ends up catching a match or two and swinging by a future stream. More details on drops will be released b Blizzard ahead of each broadcast.
Hearthstone Esports Changes for 2023
There are several changes that we can expect to see out of the new year.
- The Esports program this year is smaller than before with a goal of sustainability.
- There will be seven events in total:
- The World Championships
- 3 Masters Tour Events
- 3 Battlegrounds Lobby Legends Events
- Qualifying is done through playing on the ladder.
- The top 100 players on each ladder receive points based on placements.
- The top 4 point earners in APAC, Americas, and Europe receive invites to Masters Tour events.
- 4 more invites go out to the top 4 point earners globally that didn't receive an invite from the previous invites.
- Players in China are not allowed to participate unless Blizzard obtains a new operator agreement.
Hearthstone Esports 2023 Season Schedule
- Spring Season - Qualification Period: January - March
- Masters Tour Spring Championship - April or May
- Battlegrounds: Lobby Legends Spring Championship - May
- Summer Season - Qualification Period: April - June
- Masters Tour Summer Championship - August or September
- Battlegrounds: Lobby Legends Summer Championship - July or August
- Fall Season - Qualification Period: July - September
- Masters Tour Fall Championship - November
- Battlegrounds: Lobby Legends Fall Championship - November
Exact dates will be released in the future.
Hearthstone Esports 2023 Prize Pools
- Lobby Legends Events get a $50,000 Prize Pool each.
- 1st: $10,000
- 2nd: $7,500
- 3rd: $6,000
- 4th: $5,000
- 5th: $4,000
- 6th: $3,000
- 7th: $2,500
- 8th: $2,000
- 9th-16th: $1,250
- World Championship has a Prize Pool of $500,000.
- 1st: $100,000
- 2nd: $80,000
- 3rd-4th: $65,000
- 5th-6th: $55,000
- 7th-8th: $40,000
- Masters Tour events do not have a Prize Pool.
Hearthstone Esports 2023 Announcement
Quote From Blizzard Are you ready for the TENTH YEAR of competitive Hearthstone?! This year is going to look a bit different from the previous few, so let’s get into what is coming to Hearthstone Esports.
Heading into the 2023 season, we have been evaluating the state of our competitive program and the best format for it to take moving forward. Last fall, we began thinking about setting Hearthstone Esports up for sustainability as it turns a decade old, balancing the realities of an ever-changing production landscape, sizing the program according to its audience, and finding the most direct path forward for players to compete. Even though the 2023 program is smaller, this year is poised to bring another exciting year of competitive Hearthstone, with players from across the globe showcasing their skills to earn prizing and join the Hall of Champions.
This year will see a total of seven events–three Masters Tour Seasonal Championships leading into the 2023 World Championship, as well as three standalone Battlegrounds: Lobby Legends tournaments–all broadcast on YouTube and Twitch!
Qualifying for each event will take place through their respective Ladders across three-month seasons. Each Masters Tour and Lobby Legends will feature 16 of the top Ladder players based on Competitive Points earned through monthly standings. The top four Points earners in each region will receive invites, followed by the top four total Points earners, regardless of region that had not yet received an invite.
The specific event dates are currently to be determined and will be shared in the coming months:
Spring Season - Qualification Period: January - March
- Masters Tour Spring Championship - April or May
- Battlegrounds: Lobby Legends Spring Championship - May
Summer Season - Qualification Period: April - June
- Masters Tour Summer Championship - August or September
- Battlegrounds: Lobby Legends Summer Championship - July or August
Fall Season - Qualification Period: July - September
- Masters Tour Fall Championship - November
- Battlegrounds: Lobby Legends Fall Championship - November
As standalone events, each Battlegrounds: Lobby Legends will have a $50,000 (USD) prize pool. Standard players will be competing for one of eight spots at the 2023 World Championship, and its total prize pool of $500,000 (USD). Seasonal Championships will award invites to their champion, who will be joined by the top Points earners for January - November, with the top earner in each region receiving an invite as well as the top two Points earners regardless of region. See the 2023 Hearthstone Masters Tour Official Rules and 2023 Battlegrounds: Lobby Legends Official Rules for eligibility and other important details.
We’ll have more details on the final event dates and how to watch in the coming months, including how to earn Drops while watching. See you in the Tavern!
Hearthstone Esports 2023 FAQ
Quote From Blizzard Will there be Drops on this year’s broadcasts?
- Yes, viewership Drops are returning for 2023. We’ll have more details on how to earn them ahead of each broadcast.
Will there still be regionalized broadcasts?
- Currently, there are no plans to produce regionalized broadcasts.
How come there are only three Battlegrounds: Lobby Legends tournaments?
- We want to focus on one main Battlegrounds event per expansion.
How come the three Masters Tour events don’t have any prize pools?
- With players having a direct qualification path to the world championship by playing ladder, we want to prioritize rewarding the most consistent players over the course of the whole year.
Does this mean that Hearthstone is declining/failing?
- The current scope of Hearthstone Esports is separate from the success of Hearthstone. We are thrilled with the upcoming content plans for the game and can’t wait for players to get to see what is being worked on in the years to come.
Will there be Third Party invites for Masters Tour events?
- While there are no Third Party invites this year, information on hosting community events can be found in the Community Competition Guidelines.
Can I co-stream or re-broadcast the Masters Tours / Lobby Legends programs?
- Participants in Hearthstone Esports events will be allowed to co-stream their participation on a delay unless otherwise specified by Blizzard. Additionally, approved community members will be allowed to co-stream the official PlayHearthstone broadcast. Stay tuned for how to apply to co-stream.
Does this mean HS Esports is being canceled in 2024?
- We don’t have anything to share on the 2024 program at this time.
Is this because of low viewership from being exclusive to YouTube the last three years?
- Our goal is to balance the costs of running esports productions while taking into account the size of the competitive community.
Now that HS Esports can be on Twitch, why not increase funding to bring players back?
- We’re excited for the Masters Tour to be back on Twitch after three years, and are eager to see what our audience there is like. The new program is sized for sustainability as Hearthstone Esports turns 10.
Is the prize pool reduction because of the loss of NetEase as a Chinese publisher?
- No, we began evaluating the size of the program before we understood we weren’t going to be able to reach an agreement with NetEase. As we’ve shared, we are committed to Chinese players and are actively exploring alternatives for bringing our games back to China in the future.
Can players residing in Mainland China compete?
- Players residing in Mainland China will not be eligible to participate. Eligibility may be reevaluated in the event that a new publishing partnership is established in Mainland China. Full eligibility information can be found in the Masters Tour and Lobby Legends Rules.
Comments
NetEase aggrement ending soon, probably the end of January. I kinda wanna see what's gonna happen losing all the China players have anything to do with Hearthstone.
Maybe HS gonna see less in bots players?
Honestly I could see this happening after the 2022 HS World Championship was live at the same time as the Soccer World Cup. I actively watched every masters/GM on youtube in 2022 and the viewer numbers were averaging at about 3k - 12k on the main HS channel. Let's hope the move back to Twitch increases viewership again
Man, this is terribly disappointing news.
If they don't want to shell out the cash, why not use crowd funding?
If I recall correctly, they have already done this before in "Master's Tour" packs (don't remember the exact name). I think that reached (their imposed) cap in a few days. I feel this gives the player base the opportunity to support the pro community.
There was the Thunder king bundle in 2019 used to add additional money to the prize pool: https://www.hearthstonetopdecks.com/masters-bundle-available-thunder-king-shaman-hero-portrait-card-back-20-packs-for-19-99/
Maybe Blizzard is too greedy to try this again, which is a bummer coz it can work
Sucks they don't do this.
Even on the money making side of things, It's not even charity on their end. They pocket half of the earnings and they keep everything once the cap is reached. I feel this is a win-win.
Incredible how all the comments bemoan this game as if something or someone has twisted their arm in to playing it let alone spending their hard earned money.
Tiny edit: the two previous articles to this one have zero comments...
Because they've invested into the game emotionally. Not everyone treats their stuff like a couple of soiled gloves.
So blizz shat on their game and they, as fans, call them out on it.
Youtube switch is one thing, I was still watching tournaments on youtube even with bugged rewards.
But main thing the game is not fun to watch anymore. There is like only couple valid classes right now. And blizz doesn't want to admit they fucked so do they half baked nerfs.
Right now meta is all about rogue, which has no bad match up. For over year they don't want to fix gnoll. Gnoll was supposed to be payoff for thief rogue , a joke but fun deck. But now 99% its free on turn 2-3, even in non thief decks.
There a lot of cards that should have been nerfed like guff, scales, mage 9spell, 0 mana freeze but it would require working hard and that is a big nono.
I don't believe they can balance game to save it, as it's more important to insult their customer base on twitter and complain that people want fixes through they had a holiday a week ago. This game requires testing, but also to people to say "you know that a bad idea". But in current nu-blizzard both are counted as toxic
I wonder why Rogue is so prevalent? According to HSReplay, Thief Rogue is the most played deck in the meta, but it doesn't have the highest winrate, neither in Diamond (where Shockspitter Hunter, Nathria Imp Warlock and Pure Paladin are all ahead) or in Top Legend (where Shockspitter and Evolve Shaman are ahead).
Some serious buffs to Priest might be better than nerfing Rogue. It has a massively favorable winrate against Rogue - with its efficient clears and healing to stay out of range - but sucks against most everything else, so is basically a dead class.
Without accurate data on how much hearthstone is actually bringing into the total revenue, we can't speculate much on why the decision to take away the master tour prize pools. But I think the low viewership is probably being brought into equation here, which I think is unfair. You dont need nostrodamus to predict lower viewership when you switch platforms from twitch to youtube.
But it is known that blizz games have taken a beating when it comes to revenue. Far as Ive read dragonflight isn't doing all that well neither, and I cant imagine overwatch 2 doing better than 1 in terms of revenue. Diablo 4 is not out yet but the signs are encouraging far as game is concern but we'll have to wait and see. As for hearthstone its as bit baffling because this is about as monetize as it ever got for the game, so its kinda hard to believe the game is not bringing in the cash for the business. I think hearthstone deserves more love, but cant say for sure without seeing the finances.
I wouldn't call hearthstone stale, but games have got to the point that there's simply way too many choices, even in the turn-based TCG-like genre. Seems like nowadays any turn based game has a 50-50 change to involve cards in some capacity. Hypothetically, if blizz is prepared to throw money at the game and make hearthstone 2 we might see something of a resurgence. But realistically in my opinion, there's a good chance blizz would be in the backwater by 5 years, despite its impressive library. Just cant see microsoft managing this well at all.
I hope that the "suit" responsible for accepting the Google/Yahoo deal was laid off -- they clearly didn't understand how eSports culture works, and just opted for the short-term gains to the detriment of the long-term health of Blizzard's properties.
I assume all the other Blizzard games suffered a similar drop, which means we're entering a long and difficult rebuilding phase for all Blizzard games. Let's hope the new Microsoft management will have a better understanding of the competitive scene!
Crazy how Hearthstone is easily one of the top money makers for Blizzard (if not number 1) and they’re lowering the amount of money given to players
Incredibly short-sighted by them. The game prints money like there's no tomorrow and they refuse to use esports as a marketing expense. The game needs growth. Doing fun esports stuff could be an easy way to have players talking positively about the game and for what effectively amounts to peanuts of the Hearthstone profit pie.
The one thing I hope that happens is Twitch gets HS Esports out of a rut and next year gets better. They should have just cloned 2022 and put the 2023 on twitch for a better comparison and then nuke the scene if it wasn't working out, but it does feel like a Heroes of the Storm moment.
Finally.
I'm not a huge twitch viewer, but it's objectively the better platform to host events that are supposed to generate hype. Youtube chat is terrible and their drop system is atrocious as well.
Let's hope this breathes some life into the whole thing instead of just killing it even harder.
Yeah, I'm not optimistic. All the pro players on Twitter and multiple Team 5 devs are posting really apocalyptic things, essentially mourning the death of the game.
I mean at this point we can't really do much except hope for the best.
As grim as it looks, the chances at Twitch are much better then they would be on Youtube.
The folks on team five talking about being upset about it is the most incredible part about it. It's not like this is anything new, everyone there seems to speak their mind these days, but it does feel like there's more disappointment than normal.
Could you link a few of their tweets for those of us that don't use Twitter?