Thoughts on the Hearthstone Content Creator Program

Article written by TitoSantana, published by Raindet.

The Hearthstone team announced the Hearthstone Creator Program (HCP) this week. The program which had been announced in the fall had been delayed without much info until the surprise reveal on Thursday. The community was very excited at first, and then they read the requirements to qualify and the mood rapidly shifted.    

  There are four main categories listed for consideration:  Streamer, youTuber, Podcast, and social Influencer. The first item listed on the site is Streamer the requirements are:

• 60% of your content needs to be Hearthstone 
• 5000 followers or consistent uploads over the last 6 months with steady increased viewership.   
• 200 CCV (concurrent viewers)  
• Consistent uploads over the last six months.   

Now the 60% makes sense, can’t be a champion of the brand if you don’t play the game. The next two requirements are where the wind got knocked out of most folks.   If you are not familiar with streaming, 5000 followers and 200 CCV is a LOT. People work hard to get to twitch partners, and it takes somebody sometimes years to get there, and that requirement is an average of 75 CCV. The HCP is more than double that.    

It is important to mention that the application does say “We do consider special circumstances”. Additionally we don’t know if this is just the first phase of the program or if there are plans to have different tiers in the future. We don’t know if there is a limit of the amount of people they can have in the program. All the info we have is what they have given us so far.

Community Manager Alkali Layke will be on The Angry Chicken on Wednesday, February 1st to talk about the program, and I’m sure a lot of the concerns will be addressed then.   

The Hearthstone Creator Community is as wide as it is diverse. Between all the different modes (Standard, Wild, Arena, Battlegrounds, Duels and even Mercenaries!) you can find Streamers, Podcasters, YouTubers, TikTokers and Tweeters. Most are looking to grow. If you create content, you want people to see it. This is HARD work. A YouTuber could make the most compelling videos, and it doesn’t matter if people aren’t watching it. Finding ways to get that attention and differentiate yourself is probably the hardest part of being a content creator in any space, and hearthstone is no different.  

So when the program was announced last fall, small content creators were excited. The easiest way to get noticed if you have direct ties to the game itself. Many dream of being featured on the launcher, being gifted the swag that top streamers get, or getting codes to giveaway as incentives to watch your content. So when the requirements were given, it felt like a gut punch to many. Like the recent esports announcements , this was not what the community had been hoping for.   

In fact there are many folks that have been featured by Blizzard in the past that don’t come close to these requirements. If most of a person’s favorite content creators don’t even hit those numbers what chance does the small creator have? Sure, apply anyway, but it feels like going through the motions. We are two to three weeks away (according to the official site) from starting to hear what we anticipate are tales of rejection. It’s too early to say if this will actually change the mindset of folks who make this content, since the program didn’t exist before.  

It’s also unclear where somebody that dabbles in everything fits in. Some folks make YouTube content, have a podcast and stream, but don’t have those kinds of numbers. How would that all add up? Do they have to focus on one particular thing, or would the sum of their content be considered?  

To be clear, I’m personally a bit let down, but not without hope. If Team Five has shown us anything in the past, it is that they do listen to us, and iterate on things until they get them right (just look at the rewards track). The community team in particular is the best in the business and I expect that in a year’s time we can look back at the launch of this program and laugh at our initial concerns.    

At least that’s my hope.  

So in the spirit of ‘give me solutions not problems’, here is how this author (who has no concept of the limitations presented to the community team in the creation of this project) would address the concerns of the small streamer/creator community. I would have different tiers that had different benefits and requirements. Every tier would allow for the community team’s discretion for advancement (or starting placement), but there would be base numbers people could also hit for advancement.    The numbers I picked are entirely made up, and not based on anything outside of feeling, so they could easily be adjusted.  

• Tier 1   (rookie)
  • Requirements:
    • Content creation for minimum six months 
    • Consistency shown over that time 
    • Twitch Affiliate or equivalent per platform. .  
  • Benefits
    • Access to official HCP discord.  
    • Access to official HCP branding for their content/streams.  
    • Access to contents to earn codes and other benefits.
    • Access to “master classes” given by Top Tier members of the program with tips and tricks and methods to growth and quality of content creation.   
    • Access to purchase HCP specific bundles that are created specifically as exclusives that only members of HCP can give away.  (not to be sold, which would be instant expulsion from the program) 
    • Access to HCP tournaments 

• Tier 2 (sophomore)
  • Requirements
    • All previous tier requirements
    • Minimum 1000 Followers OR avg 30 CCV over the past six months.  
  • Benefits
    • All previous tier benefits. 
    • Access to one small bundle code to give away during expansion release.   
    • Assigned a Tier 3 mentor to work with.  
• Tier 3 (veteran).
  • Requirements
    • All previous tier requirements.
    • Minimum 2500 followers or avg 75 CCV over the past six months.  
    • Mentor at least one Tier 2 member of the program.  
  • Benefits.
    • Assigned a Tier 4 mentor to work with.   
    • Access to one bundle for any event when bundles are given (new bgs release, mini sets, new expansion, whatever).    
    • Access to quarterly round tables with selected devs to ask questions.    
    • DeckTech will generate one legal document for you. 
    • Qualify for contest or raffle to get card review for a limited number of their 3 card reveals.  
• Tier 4 (Legend)
  • Requirements
    • All previous tier requirements 
    • Minimum 5000 followers or avg 200 ccv over the past six months
  • Benefits
    • Access to multiple bundles to give away for events.. 
    • Mentor at least one tier 3 member (not tier 2)   
    • Potential for dev interviews at key times of community engagement.  
    • If desired will qualify for a card reveal minimum once a year.  
• Tier 5 (High Legend)
  • Requirements
    • All previous tier requirements
    • Participate/teach in one workshop a quarter to help lower level team members (replaces the mentor requirement).  
    • Minimum 10000 followers or avg 500 ccv over the last six months.   
  • Benefits
    • Considered for invitationals.    
    • Granted a dev interview at least twice a year if desired (assuming meets all requirements for such a thing) 
    • Card reveal if desired every expansion.    

The concept is simple. Get folks into the program, give them support, and have goals for them to reach. The more people feel seen and supported, the better potential content they can put out, and support the brand. The hearthstone creator community is just that, a community. The more opportunities they have to work together and support each other, the better it will be for everybody.