• Log InLog In
  • Register
Liquid`
TeamLiquid Liquipedia LiquidDota LiquidLegends
EDT 07:41
CEST 13:41
KST 20:41
  • Home
  • Forum
  • Calendar
  • Streams
  • Liquipedia
  • Features
  • Store
  • EPT
  • TL+
  • StarCraft 2
  • Brood War
  • Smash
  • Heroes
  • Counter-Strike
  • Overwatch
  • Liquibet
  • Fantasy StarCraft
  • TLPD
  • StarCraft 2
  • Brood War
  • Blogs
Forum Sidebar
Events/Features
News
Featured News
WTL 2022 Summer - Week 4 Recap & Week 5 Preview7WTL 2022 Summer - Week 3 Recap & Week 4 Preview6WTL 2022 Summer - Week 2 Recap & Week 3 Preview8Rogue wins 4th GSL Code S Championship60Road to CCL S4: A World without Drafts1
Community News
ESL Open #124: Dark, Clem, ByuN win1Code S Season 2 (2022) - Qualifier Results16DHM Valencia: SpeCial, Nice, MeomaikA win regionals19Neeb joins ONSYDE Gaming15[BSL15] LatAm Championship - 24 - 30 May, 02:00 AM14
StarCraft 2
General
WTL 2022 Summer - Week 4 Recap & Week 5 Preview What balance / design changes do you want to see? Code S Season 2 (2022) - Qualifier Results 'Husyelt's Songs ESL Observer Interface
Tourneys
GSL S2 2022 Qualifier Cast Brawler's Club #29 - ByuN, herO, soO, Dream DreamHack Masters: Valencia 2022 - Regionals [WTL 2021] Summer - Week 5 Alpha Pro Series: Ultimate Showdown #12
Strategy
Simple things you can do to improve Calling out PiG and Winter Practice Partner Thread Season 1 - 2018 What is the math on 17 nexus vs 20 nexus?
Custom Maps
[M] (2) Altitude StarLance | Extension Mod – Multiplayer LotV
External Content
Mutation # 318 Negative Reinforcement Mutation # 317 Price of Progress Mutation # 316 Fright nigh Mutation # 315 Chilling Adaptation
Brood War
General
Sickest spider mine I've seen in my life BW General Discussion Starcraft: Remastered received Spyware "upgrade"? repmastered.app: replay sharing and analyzer site ASL S13 Revenge Battle
Tourneys
[BSL15] LatAm Championship - 24 - 30 May, 02:00 AM Asia Championship MIHU Was eliminated [STPL] Money Match #1 - pSi vs Red - $20+ KCM 2022 Season 2
Strategy
Simple Questions, Simple Answers Why recall is not used on tanks? Add 1 medic per base vs storm drops TvT: Wraiths or Battlecruisers?
Other Games
Heroes of the Storm
HotS: WP and Funny Moments Road to CCL S4: A World without Drafts Road to CCL S4: Meeting the New Rosters
General Games
The PlayStation 5 Crossfire: Legion - A new RTS combining C&C and SC Path of Exile Nintendo Switch Thread Destiny 2 - PC/Xbox/PS4
TL Mafia
TL Mafia Community Thread British Empire Mini Mafia II
Hearthstone
Introduce yourself!
LoL General
LoL Tournaments
LoL Strategy
Community
General
Coronavirus and You Russo-Ukrainian War Thread The Letting Off Steam Thread US Politics Mega-thread If you're seeing this topic then another mass shooting happened and people disagree on what to do
Fan Clubs
Zest Fan Club The Creator Fan Club
Media & Entertainment
[Manga] One Piece Anime Discussion Thread Korean Music Discussion Series you have seen recently... [SCIFI Series] The Expanse
Sports
2021 - 2022 Football Thread Formula 1 Discussion McBoner: A hockey love story NBA General Discussion 2021 NFL/CFB Season
Tech Support
Computer Build, Upgrade & Buying Resource Thread Simple Questions Simple Answers The Ultimate Mouse Thread
TL Community
The Automated Ban List
Blogs
On gun violence in America.…
MrBitter
Immortality
Starlightsun
First time having "S*X".
Garnet
Gomorrah
Broodwar4lyf
my maps
NicknameLucifer
Getting Back to it..!.20 years…
FuDDx
Age
AmericanUmlaut
Is Team Liquid a light blue …
aisight
Customize Sidebar...

Website Feedback

Closed Threads



Active: 1076 users

[HotS] The American Viewership Crisis

Forum Index > Heroes of the Storm
2 CommentsPost a Reply

[HotS] The American Viewership Crisis

Text byTL.net ESPORTS
June 19th, 2019 22:06 GMT





The American
Viewership Crisis


Rebooting HotS Esports in NA


Written by: Koznarov




After the HGC breakdown, each region has tried to cope with the situation in its own way. China kept things going with the Gold Series Heroes League and allowed foreign players to join. South Korea went for a huge goodbye tournament which gathered almost every former HGC player. The Eastern major regions took diverging paths, but the teams in the West bonded together to create two major competitions: Division S hosted by HeroesLounge (partnering with Nexus Gaming Series in North America); and the HeroesHype Premier Series, a series of cups organized by HeroesHype.

However, once things began to roll, we witnessed two diametrically opposed receptions. The European Division S games always gathered more than a thousand viewers, but the North American ones struggled to get a hundred, and the conflict of whether a league or a cup system is better was again renewed.


A Grieving Region



There are two main reasons for this huge difference in terms of viewership. First, Europe has kept much of the HGC casting talent including Khaldor and Malganyr. In North America, only JHow maintains a solid involvement with the competitive scene, but even that has been limited to small projects like HeroesHearth Fight Night. In his stead, Gravesville and Bahamut, who you may know from the Tespa Collegiate Series, have stepped up to fill the “premier caster” niche.

The second difference is the player profiles. Despite having a similar amount of former HGC players, Europe has been consistently streaming their Division S games and enlarging the total viewership. In addition, many of the non-HGC players made a name for themselves in the Open Division or Nexus Contest. But in North America, most of the Division S players aren’t streamers and come directly from the amateur scene.

But that’s changing. Some former pros have started to join the HeroesHype cups. Keenan, flex player for Close To Death in Division S, thinks that this comeback was just a matter of time once the HGC wound starts to heal.

“People were very upset about the sudden cancellation of HGC, and they needed time to separate themselves. Once they were able to define themselves without Heroes of the Storm, they were able to enjoy the game again."



The Format Debate



Perhaps the format has something to do with former pro players’ decision to come back. Each cup has its own prize pool, so players don’t need to wait until the whole competition is over to see any money (though HeroesHype has an extra prize pool for its playoff). Those in Europe have to wait a little longer for their money, though. Keenan gave his take on this format disparity.

“Both formats are fun, but we prefer a regular league because of the consistent schedule. Videogames are not a full-time job for my team, so it is hard to make the time, especially during the work-week."


He points out that the cups are much more intense—every match is crucial—but on the other hand, the stability of a league grants you much more room to improve. He also thinks that the coexistence of both formats is overall a good thing for the region.

“Both formats are a great fit because different players have different schedules. A regular season is better for NA though because we need stability and consistency to keep followers entertained."


Tomster is one of the HGC players coming back for HeroesHype cups, playing for Subscribe w/ Twitch Prime. As an old-school contender, he prefers these individual cups which give them a calmer week between competition to relax and to train.

“I feel overall that cups are probably better for Heroes overall. To me at least, it fits the theme of the game itself being a quick-paced ‘hero brawler’. It feels way better as a player to train for a bit than play your heart out in one day, moreso than to play one set a week. Playing once a week seems more like a job than a game, and in my opinion, takes away from the initial spirit of the game."


Despite the format debate, the viewership rise in North America with HeroesHype cups is a fact. While still nowhere in the region of Europe’s numbers, competitions have begun to top 200 viewers and start to close the gap. Maybe the mourning has finally ended and the post-HGC era can truly begin.




If you're still following HotS esports or you're finally ready to stop grieving too, you can follow the action from HeroesHype, Heroes Lounge, and Nexus Gaming Series! Get out there and support the players, let's rebuild this scene!




If you enjoyed this piece, check out our latest articles:

The New European Circuit
The Revolution of FP Streams
The Fish of Doom
Moving Forward in HotS
Children of Agon: The Nexus Contest Winners





Writer(s): Koznarov
Editor(s): EsportsJohn
Formatting: EsportsJohn
Design: shiroiusagi
Art Credit: Blizzard


Facebook Twitter Reddit
TL+ Member
Proko
Profile Joined February 2011
United States1014 Posts
June 20 2019 06:34 GMT
#2
Thanks for the article. I like HotS, and I'm sad to hear NA hasn't really rebounded.
Caster duos should compliment each others' strengths. "You look very handsome today, Tasteless."
karazax
Profile Joined May 2010
United States3737 Posts
June 27 2019 20:37 GMT
#3
I preface this by saying I haven't watched any pro HOTS in any region since HGC was canceled, but I would expect that the talent level and motivation to practice as a full time job has decreased significantly compared to HGC.

NA was already the weakest region as a whole over the past few years, so watching an even less talented version of that is a hard sell for many viewers regardless of format. If I am wrong about the current talent level though, I am willing to give it a chance.
Please log in or register to reply.
Live Events Refresh
Next event in 19m
[ Submit Event ]
Live Streams
Refresh
StarCraft 2
Crank 524
DIMAGA 205
Dragon 68
soO 47
Railgan 1
StarCraft: Brood War
Sea 21078
hero 8625
Calm 7729
Jaedong 4508
BeSt 2392
EffOrt 1659
Light 733
actioN 595
Stork 587
PianO 367
[ Show more ]
Dewaltoss 119
HiyA 36
Other Games
DeMusliM931
AxAlicia7
Organizations
Other Games
B2W.Neo2652
Counter-Strike: Global Offensive
ESL CS:GO927
StarCraft 2
OGamingTV SC2 152
Esl_sc2125
ESL.tv125
Blizzard YouTube
StarCraft: Brood War
BSLTrovo
[ Show 18 non-featured ]
StarCraft 2
• CrowbarSC2 40
• MindelVK 35
• LUISG 9
• PlayArcher 2
• IndyKCrew
• Poblha
• aXEnki
• intothetv
• Gussbus
• Kozan
• Alpha X_
• LaughNgamez Trovo
• Laughngamez YouTube
• Migwel
StarCraft: Brood War
• sscaitournament2
• AfreecaTV YouTube
• BSLYoutube
• STPLYoutube
Upcoming Events
ESL Pro Tour
19m
ESL Pro Tour
3h 19m
ShoWTimE vs Clem
Rattata vs ForJumy
GunGFuBanDa vs ShaDoWn
goblin vs ArT
HeRoMaRinE vs Lambo
MaxPax vs AqueroN
PtitDrogo vs Strange
Bly vs MilkiCow
ESL Pro Tour
8h 19m
Astrea vs Scarlett
TriGGeR vs Bioice
Namshar vs FuturE
Asuna vs Epic
Neeb vs DisK
MaSa vs Ukko
Vindicta vs PiLiPiLi
MCanning vs binski
BSL: ProLeague
12h 19m
ESL Pro Tour
1d 4h
ESL Pro Tour
1d 11h
OlimoLeague
1d 23h
ESL Pro Tour
2 days
Deathfate Pro Team League
2 days
ESL Pro Tour
3 days
[ Show More ]
ESL Pro Tour
3 days
Deathfate Pro Team League
3 days
ESL Pro Tour
4 days
ESL Pro Tour
4 days
ESL Pro Tour
5 days
ESL Pro Tour
5 days
ESL Pro Tour
6 days
ESL Pro Tour
6 days
ESL Pro Tour
6 days
Liquipedia Results

Completed

GAN Invitational 8
Championship of Russia 2022
Heroes Rise: Contender Series 3
Pinnacle Cup IV

Ongoing

RCG 2021
CWCL Season 4
Deathfate Pro Team League
HoneyCai Friendlies Season4
FS Mania
Wolfberry Invitational 2v2
CSCL: Masked Kings
KCM Race Survival 2022 Season 2
GAN Race Survival Season 4
CSL season 5 Late Spring Cup
BSL Season 15 LA
WTL 2022 Summer
DHM Valencia: EU
DHM Valencia: NA
DHM Valencia: CN
Community Clash League S4
Masters Clash Champ. 2022
ESL Challenger League S41 NA
ESL Challenger League S41 EU
ESL Challenger League S41 APAC
WePlay Academy League S4

Upcoming

BSL Season 15
BSL Season 15 NA
BSL Season 15 EU
2022 GSL: ST 2
DH Masters Atlanta
2022 GSL S3: Code S
DH Masters Valencia
StarCraft II: NationWars 7
2022 GSL S2: Code S
IEM Rio Major 2022
IEM Cologne 2022
ESL Challenger Valencia 2022
EPL Conference Season 16
BLAST Premier Spring Finals
Pinnacle Cup Championship
ESL Impact League S1 Finals
IEM Dallas 2022
TLPD

1. ByuN
2. TY
3. Dark
4. Solar
5. Stats
6. Nerchio
7. sOs
8. soO
9. INnoVation
10. Elazer
1. Rain
2. Flash
3. EffOrt
4. Last
5. Bisu
6. Soulkey
7. Mini
8. Sharp
Sidebar Settings...

Advertising | Privacy Policy | Terms Of Use | Contact Us

Original banner artwork: Jim Warren
The contents of this webpage are copyright © 2022 TLnet. All Rights Reserved.