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Heroes of the Storm 2016 Spring Championship kicks off in April

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Greyman Heroes of the Storm

Blizzard has announced that regional qualifiers for the upcoming 2016 Heroes of the Storm Spring Global Championship, the first of three events that collectively make up the new Global Championship Circuit, are now underway. Competitions will run throughout January, February, and March, with the winners headed to a $500,000 battle for the belt that will be held in Seoul, South Korea.

The intent of the new Global Circuit, Blizzard explained in November, is to strengthen competitive esports worldwide through open qualifiers, partnerships with “major tournament organizers” for sanctioned third-party tournaments, and better support for both existing teams and players who haven't yet made the move to the big leagues. And by allowing regional qualifiers to operate under their own independent formats, Blizzard said, “each region can determine the absolute best teams that they have to offer,” ensuring consistently high levels of competition at the top echelon of the pro HotS scene.

The 2016 Spring Global Championship qualifiers will unfold as follows:

Australia/New Zealand – Spring Regional

  • Dates: February 7–28
  • Location: Preliminaries online; Finals in Sydney, Australia
  • Partner: ESL
  • Prize Pool: $20k USD
  • Details TBA

China – Gold League

Europe – Spring Regional

Korea – Super League

  • Dates: January 12–March 20

Latin America – Copa America

North America – Spring Regional

  • Dates: February 27–28 (Finals)
  • Location: Preliminaries online; Finals in Los Angeles, California
  • Partner: ESL
  • Prize Pool: $100k USD
  • Details TBA

South East Asia – Spring Regional

Taiwan – Spring Regional

Two teams from China, North America, Europe, and Korea will advance to the Spring Championship, while Latin America, Southeast Asia, Australia/New Zealand, and Taiwan will send one team each. The finals will run from April 1-3 in Seoul, in partnership with OGN, with a $500,000 prize pool up for grabs.

Heroes of the Storm 2016 Spring Championship chart

Andy Chalk
Andy Chalk
US News Lead

Andy has been gaming on PCs from the very beginning, starting as a youngster with text adventures and primitive action games on a cassette-based TRS80. From there he graduated to the glory days of Sierra Online adventures and Microprose sims, ran a local BBS, learned how to build PCs, and developed a longstanding love of RPGs, immersive sims, and shooters. He began writing videogame news in 2007 for The Escapist and somehow managed to avoid getting fired until 2014, when he joined the storied ranks of PC Gamer. He covers all aspects of the industry, from new game announcements and patch notes to legal disputes, Twitch beefs, esports, and Henry Cavill. Lots of Henry Cavill.