Heroes of the Dorm returns for 2017 season, drops ESPN in favor of Facebook

Blizzard has announced the return of Heroes of the Dorm, the collegiate esports series that pits players from various universities against each other in Heroes of the Storm.

While last year’s competition was streamed via broadcaster ESPN, this year’s Heroes of the Dorm will be streamed through Facebook Live on the Heroes of the Storm Esports Facebook page.

The competition features a prize pool offering more than $500,000 in scholarships and prizes. The tournament’s group stages will start in February, and run through the following dates:

• Group Stages: February 15-16, 22-23

• Regional Playoffs: March 4-5

• Regional Finals: March 8-9

• Round of 64: March 18-21

• Round of 32: March 22-23

• Round of 16: March 25

• Round of 8: March 26

• Heroic Four: April 8

• National: April 8

Heroes of the Dorm will also feature a competition for viewers to make match predictions, starting with the round of 64. Prizes will be awarded to the top 500 entries, and a grand prize winner will earn $10,000. Another viewer-participation challenge will allow participants to pick a single team and earn Heroes of the Storm Stimpacks based on how their chosen team performs.

Heroes of the Dorm first started in 2015, with UC Berkeley emerging as the champions that year. Last year’s tournament saw Arizona State University claim first place.

In related news, the Heroes of the Storm Global Championship 2017 started last week. Both the NA and EU regions have eight teams competing in a weekly best-of-five series of matches. Team that finish in the top three will go on to play in the Western Clash at IEM Katowice.