In the 34th edition of the awards Hearthstone has been nominated in the 'Competitive Game of the Year' category.
The Golden Joystick Awards are one of the oldest game awards around. After the first edition in 1983, more and more categories were added over time. A year ago eSports made its first appearance in the awards, with CS:GO commentator Anders Blume winning the 'eSports Icon' award. This year gamers from all over the world can vote for their favorite Competitive Game of the Year as well, and Hearthstone's been nominated. Other nominees include eSports giants League of Legends, CS:GO and Dota 2, as well as old timer StarCraft 2 and rising star Overwatch. The full list of nominees can be found on the voting page.
The nomination comes in turbulent times for competitive Hearthstone. [card]Yogg-Saron, Hope's End[/card] has become the source of much frustration in the community, with its RNG deciding games in ways regarded unfair by many. Furthermore, the Hearthstone Championship Tour received a lot of comments on its structure. Only a week ago Dima "Rdu" Radu wrote a post on how the Last Call Invitationals could be improved and received a lot of positive feedback on it.
Yet, there is much to be said in favor of the competitive Hearthstone scene and its development as an eSport. Whereas in 2015 the total prize pool for the World Championship was $250.000, this year Blizzard quadrupled it to a whopping $1 million. Furthermore, Seasonal Championships were introduced for each major region, which was praised by the entire Hearthstone community.
So, if you think Hearthstone deserves the award, go to the Golden Joystick Awards and cast your vote!