Blizzard's take on the online Trading Card Game genre has exploded in popularity as an eSport. As such, they look to expand the competitive circuit.

Formerly totaling $250,000, the prize money for the World Championship has now quadrupled to $1,000,000.  On top of this, an extra $100,000 is included for each of the nine Championships across North & South America, Europe, and Asia-Pacific. Blizzard has provided a year-at-a-glance photo that shows the steps leading up to the World Championship, largely comprised of seasonal preliminaries and individual championships.

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Earlier in the year, Blizzard announced a brand new eSports division lead by former CEO of ESPN and the NFL Network with Bobby Kotick, CEO of Activision Blizzard, offering a statement of “Celebrating our players and their unique skill, dedication and commitment is the essence of our eSports initiatives -- We intend to … make certain this remains an important growth driver for Activision Blizzard." The division is said to be operating as a separate unit outside of Activision-Blizard, but will have a huge impact on future titles, with many of the current titles developing in their eSports areas significantly.

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