Heroes of the Dorm is back for another round in 2016. $500,000 in tuition money is now up for grabs for new and existing eSports teams interested in competing until Feb. 18.
The collegiate “Heroes of the Storm” tournament, Heroes of the Dorm, began in 2015 as an opportunity for college students to have a taste of the eSports world and to market the upcoming title that was to release in June.
“Heroes of the Storm,” though it is not considered a multiplayer online battle arena game by developer Blizzard Entertainment, is very similar to Riot’s MOBA “League of Legends.” In this free-to-play, players join teams of five and play as various heroes from Blizzard’s numerous franchises to defeat each other in battle.
Until Feb. 18, full and part-time students at universities in North America and Canada can register completely free of charge in teams of five. The actual tournament will take place in four stages, with registration kicking off as the first.
The second stage will last for three weeks as the online qualifier. From Feb. 20 to March 6, registered teams will compete in double-elimination rounds online to earn their spot on the official 64 team bracket.
Stage three will consist of the top 64 teams that participated in the online qualifiers. This will again be held online only from March 19 to April 3, but will not be exclusive to the teams competing. This is a chance for fans to cheer on their favorite university teams and participate in the Bracket Challenge. More details on this public challenge have been promised to arrive soon.
The fourth and final stage, deemed “The Heroic Four,” will be a live two-day event broadcasted on ESPN2 on April 9 and 10. Since it is a live event, there will be seats at the live event for the public to attend. Again, more details on this participation will be released soon. Additionally, these four teams will receive brand new gaming PCs.
As for the winning team, all five members will receive $75,000 from the prize pool to help with tuition costs. Seniors on these teams will only receive $25,000.
For more information on how to register and the official tournament rules, check out the official website at heroesofthedorm.com.