For the first time in four years, BlizzCon, presented by Blizzard Entertainment, is returning in person. Blizzard fans may witness the event from anywhere thanks to two days of live broadcasting during BlizzCon 2023, which takes place in Anaheim on November 3–4.
The main event that made headlines was Blizzard’s opening ceremony for BlizzCon on Friday. It lasted about two hours and featured “exciting announcements” for Overwatch 2, World of Warcraft, Diablo 4, Hearthstone, and Warcraft Rumble. Blizzard delivered, presenting three expansions for World of Warcraft, Cataclysm for World of Warcraft Classic, several new characters for Overwatch 2, and the first expansion for Diablo 4.
OVERWATCH 2’S NEW HERO(ES)
On Friday, Blizzard unveiled Mauga, the Samoan tank, as the next hero for Overwatch 2. Season 8 of the free-to-play hero shooter Overwatch 2 will include the dual-chaingun-wielding Mauga, but fans of the series may play with him this weekend.
Aaron Keller, the director of the Overwatch video game, also gave a preview of Overwatch 2, which will release the following year. It will have a new PvP mode called Clash, which he characterized as a five-point capture gameplay style. Reimagined as a Clash map named Hanaoka, the deprecated map Hanamura is making a reappearance in Clash after being altered in the original Overwatch game.
Along with these changes, Keller also pledged to completely revamp two of Overwatch 2’s most significant in-game features: competitive play and competitive awards. Future seasons’ themes, which center on witchcraft, Egyptian mythology, Eldritch terror, and a mirror reality “where heroes become villains and villains become heroes,” were alluded to by him.
Keller concluded by hinting at two additional characters that will be added to Overwatch 2 in 2024: Venture, a new damage hero that will debut in season 10, and Space Ranger, a new support hero who will debut in season 12.
DIABLO 4’S FIRST EXPANSION, VESSEL OF HATRED
Blizzard said that season 3 of Diablo 4 would feature The Gauntlet, a brand-new kind of weekly challenge dungeon. This was hinted at during season 2.
The announcement that Blizzard will be releasing Vessel of Hatred, the first expansion for Diablo 4, in late 2024, was the most significant piece of news. Diablo 4 development director Tiffany Wat revealed that players would explore a brand-new jungle area, battle Mephisto once more, and have access to a “wholly new class, never seen before in the Diablo universe.”
The World of Warfare Class
According to World of Warcraft executive producer Holly Longdale, “a new way to play hardcore mode” in World of Warcraft Classic will be available in 2024. But the most significant addition to World of Warcraft Classic will be a revised edition of the 2010 release of the Cataclysm expansion. According to Longdale, modifications will be made to World of Warcraft: Cataclysm Classic in response to player input.
Shortly after, Longdale hinted to the upcoming World of Warcraft Classic Season of Discovery, calling it “vanilla WoW with a spicy twist” that would include new secrets and class-altering powers. Thus, players might specialize on tanking Warlocks or becoming Mage healers. Nov. 30 is when Season of Discovery premieres.
WORLD OF WARCRAFT’S NEXT EXPANSION(S)
Chris Metzen, executive creative director of the Warcraft universe, returned to the BlizzCon stage to talk about the future of World of Warcraft. Metzen laid out an ambitious plan to chart the next two decades of World of Warcraft, which will start with the Worldsoul Saga. That’s not just one expansion, it’s three.
Metzen announced:
- World of Warcraft: The War Within, which will send players to the subterranean kingdom Nerubian Empire to dispense justice;
- World of Warcraft: Midnight, a return to the old world, sending players to the fabled lands of Quel’thalas to battle the forces of The Void;
- World of Warcraft: The Last Titan heads to the wintry lands of Northrend, where players will bear witness to the Titans of Azeroth, uncovering a vast conspiracy that stretches throughout the history of the world and reveals the true nature of the Titans.
The first expansion in World of Warcraft’s Worldsoul Saga trilogy, The War Within, will be released in 2024. It will be WoW’s 10th overall expansion.
HEARTHSTONE
The trailer for the next expansion, Showdown in the Badlands, which is set in Azeroth’s interpretation of the American West and provides background information on the characters Reno Jackson and Elise Starseeker, was unveiled by Cora Georgiou, senior game designer for Hearthstone.
Georgiou also disclosed a brand-new method for Hearthstone players to obtain new cards: catch-up packs, which provide players with up to 50 cards in a single pack, are described as “game changing for getting your collection caught up.”
Additionally, a brand-new cooperative gameplay style called Battleground Duos is coming to Hearthstone Battlegrounds.
WARCRAFT RUMBLE
Blizzard’s mobile action-strategy combat game set in Azeroth, which creators say “harkens back to our RTS roots,” Warcraft Rumble, is out now. Season 1 of the mobile action game kicks off with a new tabletop mini-style version of Sylvanas Windrunner.
