Date: June 2, 2015
Platform: Mac / PC
Developer: Blizzard Entertainment
Publisher: Blizzard Entertainment
Genre: MOBA
Theme: Fantasy / Sci-Fi
Also known as: Blizzard DOTA / Blizzard All-Stars
Adaptation: Inspiration

Summary:

Heroes of the Storm is a free-to-play action real-time strategy game developed and released by Blizzard on June 2, 2015 for the PC and Mac.

Inspired by the Defense of the Ancients custom scenario for Blizzard’s 2002 real-time strategy game Warcraft III: Reign of Chaos, Heroes of the Storm brings various heroes from the universes of Blizzard’s other game franchises (primarily Warcraft, StarCraft, Diablo, and Overwatch) into five-on-five combat as they gain new abilities, destroy fortifications, contest map objectives, and stem the tides of AI-controlled creeps.

The game distinguishes itself from other similar Multiplayer Online Battle Arena games by streamlining most of the traditional but clunky game mechanics. Instead of in-game currency and an inventory system, players gain new “talents” (adding a special characteristic chosen from one-time talent pools) by leveling up as a team. Games are considerably faster-paced, with all players being more effective from the start (as they start with all of their basic abilities, have toggle-able faster-moving “mounts”, and use a shared team-based experience counter). Each of the many maps also have battleground-specific objectives to capture, allowing well-organized teams to help devastate enemy buildings.

Like League of Legends, the game features a weekly free-to-play rotation, granting free access to only a limited amount of Heroes to choose from. Players can unlock Heroes permanently with in-game Gold (earned by playing the game) or through microtransactions. Microtransactions can also allow players to purchase alternate outfits for their Heroes (sometimes affecting their voice lines, animations, and ability effects), alternate mounts, and “Stimpacks” (granting a time-limited boost of earned Gold and player XP).

Heroes of the Storm was initially revealed at BlizzCon 2010 under the name “Blizzard DOTA” as a simple StarCraft II: Wings of Liberty mod to showcase its modding features. Over time, the game was rebooted into a standalone game and was renamed twice (once to “Blizzard All-Stars” and once to the current name). It went into a technical alpha starting on March 13, 2014, into closed beta on January 13, 2015, and into open beta on May 19, 2015. The game continues to get regular updates, including new playable characters, battlegrounds, and alternate outfits for existing characters.

Source: https://www.giantbomb.com/heroes-of-the-storm/3030-36739/