"Hearthstone and video games are the biggest threat to online poker," read the title of an op-ed written by the CEO of theGlobal Poker Index / Mediarex Sports & Entertainment Alex Dreyfus in the Huffington Post during October 2015. Dreyfus was quick to point out that Blizzard's Hearthstone launched in march 2104 and had more than 30 million registered players only 18-months later.
One month after Dreyfus' article entered the public domain, Full Tilt gained access to the Steam gaming platform, and as 2015 drew to a close, the Ireland-based poker company announced it was sponsoring a Hearthstone Esports team.