Blizzard removes Tychus's cigar in Heroes of the Storm

Tychus Findlay, Blizzard's iconic StarCraft character who also stars in their MOBA Heroes of the Storm, has had his cigar put out.

The iconic cancer stick, which fans of StarCraft will instantly recognise, has been removed because "there were regions where he wouldn't be allowed to smoke" according to Blizzard. The decision, however, has sparked a furious response from fans.

"YES. We know smoking is bad, everybody does. BUT! it's not Blizzard's job to make sure we don't do it anyway" is the title of thread that popped up on Reddit, to which one Blizzard dev gave the following response.

"Heroes of the Storm is a multi-region game with a teen rating. There are a magnitude of guidelines we have to be aware of. From a development standpoint we prioritize making Heroes and Skins as utilitarian as possible, if a single model can be used in all regions, that's a huge win for development."

They continued: "In the case of Tychus' cigar there were regions where he wouldn't be allowed to smoke. We have two options: Make 2 versions, one smoking, one non-smoking, or Remove the Cigar."

In the end they decided to remove the cigar, so they might put "the development time into more content instead of bloating the management of one character. This is a decision based on productivity. The appeal of Tychus should not hinge on a cigar anyways, and we have no issue with that aspect of his character."

"These scenarios emerge frequently, and the cigar-removal was a impulsive fix because we want as many people as possible to experience the same content," the Blizzard rep added.

Heroes of the Storm, Blizzard's first foray into the world of MOBAs - a genre built on the back of a mod made for one of their games, Warcraft III - has just gone into open beta.