College students across U.S. and Canada can
team up and represent their school—more than $450,000 in tuition
and other prizes up for grabs
Anyone can fill out a fantasy bracket, cheer on
their favorite schools, and win big
ESPN to deliver exclusive live coverage of
Heroes of the Dorm competition on TV and digital platforms
Wrap up that term paper, because you’ll want to hit the
battlegrounds with no distractions. Today, Blizzard Entertainment
and TeSPA revealed plans for Heroes of the Dorm™—the
ultimate Heroes of the Storm™ college tournament, offering an
unprecedented prize pool where the winning team will receive free
tuition for the rest of their college career. Currently in closed
beta testing, Heroes of the Storm is Blizzard Entertainment’s
free-to-play online team brawler featuring iconic heroes from more
than 20 years of the developer’s rich gaming history. ESPN, the
worldwide leader in sports, will deliver exclusive live coverage
for Heroes of the Dorm on television and digital platforms. This
represents the first live televised coverage of a collegiate
eSports event on an ESPN network.
Heroes of the Dorm will bring together teams of college students
from across the United States and Canada in an epic showdown to
determine the strongest scholars in the Nexus, with hundreds of
thousands of dollars in tuition at stake. Every competing team will
get access to the Heroes of the Storm closed beta test in order to
participate. Plus, everyone’s invited to show their school
spirit—and compete for prizes of their own—by participating in the
Heroes of the Dorm fantasy bracket challenge.
“College sports do great things for student athletes—they help
pay for schooling, build teamwork and communication skills, and
create lasting memories,” said Mike Morhaime, CEO and cofounder of
Blizzard Entertainment. “We believe eSports has the same kind of
power, and this tournament aims to bring positive experiences like
these to college gamers. We can’t wait to fill out our fantasy
brackets and cheer on a new generation of eSports athletes as they
compete in Heroes of the Storm.”
The Heroes of the Dorm tournament is open to active college
students in the United States and Canada and will be played across
three rounds of competition:
- Open Qualifiers – Begin March 28
- Single-Elimination Bracket Play (Round
of 64) – Begins April 11
- The Heroic Four live event to be held
in late April
All five members of the first-place team will each enjoy up to
$25,000 per year in college tuition for their remaining years of
undergrad or graduate enrollment (up to three full years as an
undergrad or up to two years as a grad student). Seniors and grad
students with no remaining years of enrollment will receive one
year’s worth of tuition to help repay student loans (or an
equivalent cash prize if the student does not have any remaining
student loans). Each player whose team emerges from the Round of 64
and makes it to the Heroic Four will take home a top-of-the-line
gaming PC and officially licensed Heroes of the Storm peripherals
and accessories.
ESPN3 will carry the Round of 16, Round of 8, and “Heroic Four”
live exclusively on the multi-screen sports network. It is
accessible in more than 99 million households nationwide to fans
who receive their Internet or video subscription from an affiliated
provider. The network is also available at no cost to approximately
21 million U.S. college students and U.S.-based military personnel
via computers, smartphones, and tablets connected to on-campus
educational and on-base military broadband and Wi-Fi networks. The
coverage will also be available across ESPN media platforms in
several international regions.
Viewers will be able to access Heroes of the Dorm tournament
action on ESPN3 under the eSports category online at WatchESPN.com,
on smartphones and tablets via the WatchESPN app (visit
http://espn.go.com/watchespn/apps for a list of compatible
devices), and streamed on televisions through Apple TV, Roku, and
other connected devices.
In late April, the Heroes of the Dorm championship match will be
televised live in prime time on an ESPN network and also accessible
via WatchESPN. Further details on the telecast will be shared at a
later date.
“Heroes of the Dorm presents an exciting opportunity to once
again work with Blizzard, a leader in the games industry,” said
Raphael Poplock, Vice President of Games and Partnerships, ESPN.
“By delivering the tournament to an audience of gaming fans in the
US and beyond, we are able to experiment with new formats and
programming across our networks.”
To sign up, students should form a team of five players and
register by visiting the official Heroes of the Dorm website,
heroesofthedorm.com. Complete rules and eligibility requirements
will be posted there as well.
Fantasy Bracket for
Everyone
The Heroes of the Dorm tournament isn’t just for collegiate
competitors—spectators can also create and share fantasy brackets
to root for their favorite teams and partake in an epic prize pool
valued at more than $25,000, including a $10,000 top prize for
whoever predicts the final bracket most accurately, and
top-of-the-line gaming PCs for the best five predictions. In
addition, everyone who participates will receive a Heroes of the
Storm in-game portrait, as well as opportunities to win high-end
gaming PCs and a range of gaming peripherals. Check the Heroes of
the Dorm website for complete rules and eligibility. Fantasy
brackets will be available there starting on April 3.
In Heroes of the Storm, gamers can play some of their favorite
characters from the Warcraft®, StarCraft®, and Diablo® universes,
and team up with friends to battle other teams online. Heroes of
the Storm features a variety of battlegrounds with multiple
objectives that affect strategy in unique ways. In addition,
players will be able to customize their heroes with a variety of
skins, as well as special mounts that help them cover ground on the
battlefield more quickly.
With multiple games in development, Blizzard Entertainment has
numerous positions currently available—visit
http://jobs.blizzard.com for more information and to learn how to
apply.
About Blizzard Entertainment,
Inc.
Best known for blockbuster hits including World of
Warcraft® and the Warcraft®, StarCraft®, and
Diablo® franchises, Blizzard Entertainment, Inc.
(www.blizzard.com), a division of Activision Blizzard (NASDAQ:
ATVI), is a premier developer and publisher of entertainment
software renowned for creating some of the industry’s most
critically acclaimed games. Blizzard Entertainment’s track record
includes nineteen #1 games* and multiple Game of the Year
awards. The company’s online-gaming service, Battle.net®, is one of
the largest in the world, with millions of active players.
*Based on internal company records and reports from key
distribution partners.
About ESPN
ESPN, Inc., The Worldwide Leader in Sports, is the leading
multinational, multimedia sports entertainment company featuring
the broadest portfolio of multimedia sports assets with over 50
business entities. Based in Bristol, Conn., with 4,000 employees
(7,000 worldwide) ESPN Plaza includes 950,000 square feet in 16
buildings on 123 acres (116 contiguous), with additional office
space (400,000 sq. ft.) rented nearby. The company is 80 percent
owned by ABC, Inc., an indirect subsidiary of The Walt Disney
Company. The Hearst Corporation holds a 20 percent interest in
ESPN.
About TeSPA
TeSPA is the premier college gaming network in North America,
dedicated to creating a home for gamers on every
campus. Recognized as the leader in collegiate gaming, TeSPA
cultivates student communities, known as Local Chapters, which host
epic gaming events on over 90 campuses in the United States and
Canada. TeSPA supports its Local Chapters by connecting them to
national partners for events, hosting cutting-edge competitions for
college gaming athletes, facilitating collaboration between Local
Chapters, and empowering student leaders to become entrepreneurs in
the gaming industry.
Cautionary Note Regarding
Forward-looking Statements: Information in this press
release that involves Blizzard Entertainment's expectations, plans,
intentions or strategies regarding the future, including statements
about Heroes of the Storm and the Heroes of the Dorm tournament,
are forward-looking statements that are not facts and involve a
number of risks and uncertainties. Factors that could cause
Blizzard Entertainment's actual future results to differ materially
from those expressed in the forward-looking statements set forth in
this release include unanticipated product delays and other factors
identified in the risk factors sections of Activision Blizzard’s
most recent annual report on Form 10-K and any subsequent quarterly
reports on Form 10-Q. The forward-looking statements in this
release are based upon information available to Blizzard
Entertainment and Activision Blizzard as of the date of this
release, and neither Blizzard Entertainment nor Activision Blizzard
assumes any obligation to update any such forward-looking
statements. Forward-looking statements believed to be true when
made may ultimately prove to be incorrect. These statements are not
guarantees of the future performance of Blizzard Entertainment or
Activision Blizzard and are subject to risks, uncertainties and
other factors, some of which are beyond its control and may cause
actual results to differ materially from current expectations.
Photos/Multimedia Gallery Available:
http://www.businesswire.com/multimedia/home/20150306005505/en/
Blizzard Entertainment, Inc.Rob Hilburger, 949-242-8404VP,
Global Communicationsrhilburger@blizzard.comorEmil Rodriguez,
949-955-1380 x12064Director, Global
PRelrodriguez@blizzard.comorChe’von Slaughter, 949-955-1380
x14338PR Managercslaughter@blizzard.com
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