Esports fantasy draft site Vulcun is turning its attention to Hearthstone as it looks to create its own league and offer a fantasy draft for other competitions, sources tell the Daily Dot. This development comes not long after Team Archon plans for its own weekly league with a $250,000 prize pool were revealed.
This isn’t the first time Vulcun have looked to own a league. Vulcun were a prominent player in ongoing negotiations to create a Counter-Strike: Global Offensive “super league.” Those talks culminated with the creation of a league merging the resources of ESL and ESEA, leaving Vulcun out. Fresh off a $12 million-round of venture capital funding, Vulcun also approached FACEIT, which it sponsors, to purchase the league outright, only to have its advances rebuffed.
“Following their ongoing failure to obtain a CS:GO league, they are now looking long and hard at Hearthstone,” a source involved in the production of Hearthstone content said. “The Archon league has definitely got them thinking,” the person added.
The league is planned to begin in June, which would put it in direct competition with the Archon league. Though the prize pool is not expected to rival the $250,000 of Jason “Amaz” Chan’s organization, another source with direct knowledge of the discussions described it as “significant.”
The negotiations with production partners are at an advanced stage, with Kinguin and WellPlayed as the two options being considered. Players have already been approached, with Jon “Orange” Westberg of Archon and Aleksandr “Kolento” Malsh of Cloud9 likely participants. Malsh would also be competing in the Archon league at the same time.
“Everyone in fantasy drafting is trying to figure out how they can make it work for Hearthstone, because it’s not as straightforward to convert as League of Legends or Counter-Strike. It’s an untapped market,” our source said. “They’ve explained that their problems in CS:GO have frustrated them, but they will still make money from that game regardless. Leagues can’t stop them using data. The Hearthstone scene is likely to offer less resistance to their desire to create their own league and it’s easier logistically too.”
The plan is to create a league that will run in some form or another all year round to ensure a regular reason for people to engage in the fantasy draft elements of the Vulcun site. “One thing they don’t like is leagues taking prolonged breaks between seasons, which means no reason to use their site. Any league they create will be purposed to maximize the potential of a fantasy draft.”
Callum Leslie contributed to this report.
Published: May 7, 2015 10:08 am