Hearthstone Announces $1 Million Prize for World Championship

Earlier today, Hearthstone developer Blizzard announced its plans for the 2016 World Championship, where 16 players will duke it out for a $1 million dollar prize pool, along with the title of World Champion.

To qualify for the World Championship, players will have to go through the Championship Tour, which features several months of Ranked Play seasons, onsite Hearthstone Major tournaments, and an online Hearthstone Cup, where players will compete for points to claim a bid at the Season Championships (each prize pool $100,000).

There'll be a total of four tournaments (three Season Championships and one Last Call Invitational in each region) across the year that will determine the players invited to the Hearthstone World Championship.

This time around, there are no instant byes at the Hearthstone Majors. Players can reserve their spots, but they start in the same place as all the other players to keep an even playing field. And since there are several Fireside Gatherings that will determine the players' bids for the Season Preliminaries (that lead into the Season Championships), this means there are many more opportunities for players to attend local events to compete.

Blizzard has also rebalanced its point-giving system, giving top placing players fewer points compared to lower placing players. For Ranked Play, this means giving points to every player that achieves the Legend Rank in an eligible season.

The first event to give out points for the 2016 Hearthstone Championship Tour will be DreamHack, from November 26-29. Players will also have a chance to earn points through Ranked Play starting December.

Additional details concerning the Hearthstone Championship Tour can be found on Hearthstone's Esports page.