Heroes of the Storm Event Lets You Play Any Character, Earn Bonus XP

To celebrate the upcoming finals of the ongoing Heroes of the Dorm tournament, Blizzard today announced plans for two special in-game events for Heroes of the Storm.

Both of these kick off on Friday, April 8, at 10 AM PDT in all regions. Blizzard will offer free access to every character in the game--there are now 50, following last week's release of Dehaka--and players will earn 50 percent extra experience with every game they play.

These events have different end dates. All heroes will be unlocked only for three days, with the access going away on April 11 at 10 AM. The experience bonus lasts until April 18 at 10 AM.

Heroes of the Storm, unlike a game such as Dota 2, offers a limited rotation of free characters each week. Depending on how much you've played, you have access to anywhere from six to 10 characters during a given week in addition to any you've purchased (either with real-world money or gold earned by playing).

The Heroes of the Dorm finals take place this weekend, April 9-10. Things start with the Heroic Four at 5 PM PDT, followed by the finals on April 10. You can see the full schedule on the tournament's official website.

Coinciding with this past weekend's action, Blizzard revealed Heroes of the Storm's next character, Tracer. She's the first character to be added from Blizzard's upcoming shooter Overwatch, and she looks to be quite unusual.