Heroes of the Storm enters closed beta in January 2015

During this year’s BlizzCon, developer/publisher Blizzard Entertainment has announced its upcoming ‘Hero Brawler’ will be entering in its closed beta phase starting January 13th, 2015. A closed beta means entry isn’t guaranteed for everyone, although you can still give it a shot by registering via its official website. In addition to this, Blizzard has also released a new trailer showcasing new features, battlegrounds – Sky Temple and Tomb of the Spider Queen – and characters – Jaina and Thrall and The Lost Vikings trio. Screenshots can also be viewed at the end of this article.

Heroes of the Storm is an upcoming multiplayer online battle arena title developed by Blizzard Entertainment for the PC and the OS X. The basis of the game is the combination of heroes from Blizzard’s Warcraft, Diablo, and StarCraft franchises and the game is set in the Nexus. It is a free-to-play, digitally-distributed online game, supported by micr-opayments. Blizzard does not call the game a “multiplayer online battle arena” or an “action real-time strategy” because it feels it is something different with a broader play-style; the studio refers to it as a “Hero Brawler”. The game entered a limited technical alpha testing phase on March 13th, 2014.

Heroes of the Storm is a game that revolves around online 5 versus 5 matches, operated through Blizzard’s Battle.net. Players can choose from three game modes and can play with/against AI or other players. When players first start the game, the heroes rotate each week, but by using gold earned in-game or through real-money purchases, they can gain permanent access to a hero. Killing enemy/neutral units and the opposing side’s heroes grant experience points for the entire team. When enough experience is gained you level up, giving access to a talent point that allows a player to customize their skill set and abilities.

For the moment, Heroes of the Storm doesn’t currently have a release date, although 2015 would be a sure bet.