Short answers, pulled from the story.
Heroes of the Storm was released on the 2nd of June 2015 for macOS and Windows. An open beta preceded the full launch, starting on the 19th of May 2015, and technical alpha testing had begun as early as the 13th of March 2014.
As of March 2025, Heroes of the Storm features 89 playable heroes. They are divided into six roles: tank, bruiser, ranged assassin, melee assassin, healer, and support.
Heroes of the Storm is free to play. It uses a freemium model supported by three in-game currencies: Gold, earned through gameplay; Gems, which can be purchased with real money; and Shards, obtained from duplicate loot chest items or purchased with Gold.
The game was announced at BlizzCon 2010 as a custom map called Blizzard DOTA for StarCraft II, intended to showcase StarCraft II's modding tools. A trademark dispute with Valve over the Dota name led Blizzard to rename it Blizzard All-Stars in 2012, and it was renamed again to Heroes of the Storm on the 17th of October 2013.
On the 13th of December 2018, Blizzard cancelled both the Heroes Global Championship and Heroes of the Dorm esports tournaments. Members of the esports community said they were caught off guard, having been told as recently as BlizzCon 2018 that the leagues would continue.
The original soundtrack for Heroes of the Storm was composed by Glenn Stafford and Jason Hayes, both composers at Blizzard Entertainment. Stafford's piece "The Battle Begins" serves as the game's main theme, supplemented by music drawn from the Warcraft, StarCraft, Diablo, Overwatch, and Lost Vikings franchises.