One of the biggest names in Hearthstone continued its expansion into other esports this week.
Tempo Storm announced announced on April 1 it had acquired a new Counter-Strike: Global Offensive team, the former Ascendancy squad. This latest expansion is the third for the organization, following a move into Heroes of the Storm and the recent acquisition of fighting game player Christopher “Chris G” Gonzales.
Team manager Dan “Frodan” Chou told the Daily Dot that, while Tempo Storm started as a Hearthstone-specific team, the plan was always to take it beyond Blizzard’s popular digital card game.
“While we love everything about what we have done so far with Hearthstone, the plan was always to build beyond our walls and expand into other communities,” Chou said.
This now means bringing on a team of Counter-Strike players hungry for success. Ascendancy had managed a perfect record through the regular season in ESEA’s Premier division, the next step down from the prestigious Invite division where teams compete for a spot at ESEA’s live global final.
The move to take on a team still climbing its way up to North America’s top regions may come as a surprise to some given that more established teams do exist in the reason, but Chou said that Ascendancy’s up-and-coming nature was actually a draw.
“While we did explore the possibility of a more established team, we resonated strongly with the hunger and work ethic of Ascendancy to climb to the top,” Chou said.
Chou also spoke to the “untapped potential” of the North American region, which still lacks much of the infrastructure that benefits Counter-Strike teams in Europe, the game’s biggest hotbed for talent.
With the team now expanded to two new games within the space of a single month, there’s a potential for overreach. But Chou indicated that Tempo Storm is now turning its attention towards ensuring its current roster of teams and players is as successful as possible.
“While expanding more is not out of the question, we are dedicated towards ensuring our team will be taken care of to perform well,” Chou said.
