StarCraft 2: Heart of the Swarm featured in two Major League Gaming Winter Season events

Blizzard's StarCraft 2: Heart of the Swarm will be included in two major competitions during Major League Gaming's Winter Season, the eSports organization announced today.

The latest expansion for real-time strategy title StarCraft 2 will be part of the invite-only Online Winter Season Showdowns and the Pro Circuit Winter Championship Exhibition Tournament.

The Online Winter Season Showdowns will take place Feb. 4 through March 8 and and will feature the top 56 StarCraft 2 players worldwide. On weeknights and select Sundays during the competition, MLG will broadcast the daily Showdown through the organization's website and Twitch at 5 p.m. ET. The winning 28 players will advance to the Winter Championship, to be held in Dallas from March 15 through 17.

The Winter Championship Exhibition Tournament will take place the weekend following Heart of the Swarm's public launch. The 28 players from the Online Winter Showdowns will compete against the top four winners from the MLG 2012 Fall Championship season to compete for a $75,000 prize pool and a first place prize of $25,000. All matches will be broadcast through the MLG website and Twitch.

A full schedule listing for MLG's Winter Season can be found on the organization's website. StarCraft 2: Heart of the Swarm will launch on March 12 for Windows PC and Mac.