Hearthstone Global Games: HGG Cheer Supports Teams

The Hearthstone team has recently announced a way for spectators to support their favorite teams in the Hearthstone Global Games. As a collaboration with Twitch, viewers can use HGG Cheer, which sends funds to the teams and gives spectators a way to unlock in-game rewards.

How to Cheer and Rewards

For those that are familiar with using Twitch, the teams can be supported using the integrated Bit currency on the site. Using the team’s designated Cheermote with their logo, you will directly support that team with a message and money. A portion of the bits will be sent as money to Blizzard and the respective team.

Custom emotes for the event.

You’ll be able to get special emotes to use during the event and on other twitch channels. As everyone cheers, there will be a global count of cheers that will contribute to rewards for everyone. You’ll be able to see the progress on the PlayHearthstone twitch channel starting September 17.

You will have to connect your Blizzard account to your Twitch account. On the official channel you’ll be able to see your own progress as well as the global progress. Of course, in order to receive the global rewards you will have to contribute a minimum amount from your own pocket.

The event specific cardback.

A custom cardback will be available in the Tavern in a future update for those who cheered. You can also receive packs to open and add to your collection. The overall global reward checkpoints have yet to be announced.

Controversy

The audience reception wasn’t too good at the time the HGG Cheer video promotion was posted by Blizzard. Users on YouTube and Reddit have stated that they would like a more direct way to support their teams. They are also angry that their contribution doesn’t all go to the player. Blizzard is taking a lot off the top before redistributing the funds. More importantly, there seems to be more incentive to get the rewards than support their team.

The other point brought up by this is that the Hearthstone Global Games are not a league. Many of the spectators for the event have had their favorite teams eliminated already. This means that the total revenue generated will be a lot less. The players won’t be getting much, as many spectators would already rather spend their money on the game to get what they need to be more competitive.

There are many completionists out there, and since they are offering a new card back, people will have to spend their money to get it. Currently, the promotional video on YouTube sits at a 25 percent like-to-dislike ratio. The initial response from Hearthstone fans is overwhelmingly negative.

At the end of the day, what the community cares about is the fact that the players will get paid. Many Hearthstone Global Games teams have much lesser known players, some without a sponsor, and the chance to see some money is rare. HGG Cheer could help increase the revenue of the Hearthstone Esports scene and get those good players to more tournaments.

Images courtesy of Blizzard Entertainment via their official website.

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