In 2022, Blizzard announced that their cross-universe MOBA game, Heroes of the Storm (HotS), would no longer receive content updates. The playerbase was disappointed as they may have been the only ones that saw the potential in the game. Little over a year later, StarCraft II fans released a mod to create a quasi-sequel to the MOBA.
“Resurgence of the Storm” was created by a group of StarCraft 2 modders over the last four years and was in closed testing in 2022. They have stated that their mod is not a replacement for HotS. The group has also pointed out the new mod plays a bit differently as the RTS game was never intended to be turned into a MOBA, stating “As a StarCraft 2 mod, some things are not possible; some models and abilities cannot be replicated or ported over. Most importantly, there are no Quick Cast settings, everyone plays with On Release.”
As of the New Year, there are 15 playable heroes. The mod team plans to make more heroes available and currently has plans for adding Brightwing, Greymane, Li-Ming, and Muradin to the mod.
This isn’t the first time a popular mod or user-created map from a Blizzard game has been successful. In 2003, a group of gamers created a mod in Warcraft 3: Reign of Chaos called “Defense of the Ancients,” more commonly known as “DotA.” This mod led to the creation of two of the most popular MOBA games and esports scenes in the world, DOTA2 and League of Legends. Only time will tell if Resurgence of the Storm will have the same impact the original DotA had on the gaming scene.
For more information on RotS, check out this video from the creators.
Image from: SomeoneNew (YouTube)
