As fans of Heroes of the Storm anxiously awaited the next hero announcement from Blizzard, perhaps thousands of them were hoping for the inclusion of Starcraft veteran-turned-infested-Terran Alexei Stukov. Instead, you could say that Blizzard had something else in store for this fan bass.
That is to say, Overwatch's Lucio will now be in Heroes of the Storm, coming to the Public Test Realm on Feb. 6.
Of course, the cries from Stukov lovers came swiftly in full force. You'll see comments on Reddit and the Battle.net forums summing up the overall dismay, but suffice it to say Heroes of the Storm players aren't as happy as they could have been.
On one hand, it's always important to manage expectations. On the other hand, the heroes of the Storm did Tweet a picture that practically screamed "find out hidden details here." So, when someone saw what looked strikingly like an invested Terran egg from Starcraft, the lines were drawn immediately to Stukov.
But not only was the new hero not Stukov, as we now know, it was an Overwatch hero, the third in the game, after Zarya and Tracer. To say that Overwatch heroes appearing in Heroes of the Storm is a divisive topic is an understatement. You'll have crusaders for more inclusion of heroes from around Blizzard's universe clashing with those who feel that Overwatch heroes have no place in a game and universe that takes itself seriously.
Admittedly, it is strange to see a Brazilian EDM DJ duking it out with an ancient, immortal Skelton King, for example, but I wouldn't go so far as to say that it tarnishes the game.
At any rate, Blizzard managed to upset two different crowds all at once, and, while the legitimacy of either is dubious at best, that's not a good start for Lucio, as the community mourns waiting another month for the possibility of Stukov and the controversy surrounding Overwatch in Heroes of the Storm rages on.
