All articles tagged with #blizzcon
Bloomberg’s Jason Schreier says Blizzard layoffs are imminent, coming amid BlizzCon 2026 excitement and World of Warcraft: Forever beta buzz, as Xbox rolls on with a second wave of cuts. He stresses the layoffs aren’t framed as a Microsoft-driven move but part of Blizzard’s ongoing internal discipline and long‑planned announcements, with the first rounds already starting in July.
Kotaku reports BlizzCon 2026 is plagued by a scalping surge: hours-long merch lines, exclusive items like Pepe plushies and Darkmoon Faire pet codes fetching high resale prices, and the World of Warcraft: Forever Collector’s Edition restocking and selling out in seconds. Blizzard’s lax controls and gated, luck-based item drops are fueling a reseller economy that leaves many fans unable to buy at retail.
BlizzCon 2026 showcased World of Warcraft: Forever, a vanilla-WoW revival that adds new zones (Mount Hyjal and Riverglades), raids, and roughly 1,000 quests, along with upgraded visuals, a revamped leveling experience, and ongoing add-on support. Lead designer Tim Jones and engineer Nora Mills discussed Skyborne elf pricing, a potential Tinkerer class, and other future content. Forever is planned for PC with a November 4, 2026 launch, while the original WoW released in 2004.
Blizzard says Diablo 5 will be a standalone sequel rather than an expansion to Diablo 4, because it requires deep structural changes and a story centered on Diablo himself; the game is targeted for a 2029 release, six years after Diablo 4, with early announcement to gather feedback and refine design, combat, and class options.
Blizzard indicates there won’t be a World of Warcraft 2 on the horizon, arguing that World of Warcraft: Forever (a Classic Plus revamp) already expands the game with new zones, dungeons, raids, races, and engine improvements. A true sequel would be extremely costly and risky, and executives suggested Blizzard will continue to evolve the existing game rather than start over, while other major projects like Diablo 5 and a StarCraft shooter are planned for the future.
CD Projekt Red’s Cyberpunk 2077 is coming to Battle.net later this year, bringing Night City to Blizzard’s launcher, while an Overwatch crossover with Cyberpunk: Edgerunners is teased; Blizzard also previews a Witcher 3–themed skin for Diablo 4 via Battle.net.
Blizzard explained at BlizzCon why it revealed a new StarCraft project now: a third-person, single-player open-world shooter with a gritty, high-emotion tone, slated for 2030. The cinematic teaser was designed to gauge fan reaction and shape development, with no gameplay details yet. Blizzard emphasized building a new team and using the date as a planning target to ensure high fidelity, while keeping the project’s core concept under wraps until enough progress is made.
Blizzard announced an open-world StarCraft shooter at BlizzCon 2026, aiming for a 2030 launch as it seeks to re-ignite the StarCraft universe with a trailer showcasing a Marine facing a Zerg threat.
Blizzard unveils a bold revamp of StarCraft as an original open-world shooter planned for spring 2030, revealed at BlizzCon 2026 with a moody teaser and notes on ground-based combat; the event also confirms Diablo 5 for 2029 and a Netflix series, signaling a broader multi-franchise push.
BlizzCon 2026 kicks off in Anaheim with a 75-minute opening ceremony streamed on Blizzard’s YouTube, Twitch, and Battle.net channels. The event sets the stage for updates across Blizzard’s core franchises—Warcraft, StarCraft, Diablo, and Overwatch—with a possible StarCraft shooter, a new Diablo 4 expansion, and a World of Warcraft expansion teased (plus WoW Classic news). Musical performances by Le Sserafim and Yoasobi are exclusive to attendees.
Blizzard revealed that Xal'atath will join Heroes of the Storm, marking the first new hero since Hogger in 2020. The character will enter the Public Test Realm on September 14, with a full release planned for September 28, as announced at BlizzCon.
BlizzCon 2026 opens with a flood of announcements: StarCraft returns in 2030 as an open‑world shooter; Diablo V is planned for Spring 2029 (with Diablo IV’s Season of Hell’s Legacy arriving Sept 15 and Amazon joining as the next class in early 2027); Overwatch marks 10 years with Season 5 upgrades, a new support hero Doctrine, major Sombra/Roadhog reworks, a new Watchpoint: Grimsvotn map, and a 2027 roadmap; Warcraft reveals Eclipse 12.2 and The Last Titan, plus a surprise new Warcraft III: Reforged campaign The Forsaken Kingdom and the World of Warcraft: Forever expansion launching Nov 4, 2026 (beta Sept 17); Hearthstone gets a revamped Journal, Reign of the Black Empire in Oct, a new Aberration minion type later, and the Monk class arriving in 2027; Heroes of the Storm adds Xal’atath on Sept 28; Netflix is developing a Diablo animated series; and the BlizzCon weekend features panels, live performances, and in‑game events, with a broad slate of releases and timelines to plan around.
Blizzard unveiled StarCraft 3 (titled StarCraft), an open-world, story-driven sci-fi shooter set in the Koprulu Sector 70 years after StarCraft II, marking the franchise's first mainline entry since 2015; led by Dan Hay, the game is in early development with more gameplay reveals planned ahead of a 2030 release announced at BlizzCon 2026.
Blizzard announced at BlizzCon 2026 that Netflix is developing an animated Diablo series set in Sanctuary, expanding the franchise beyond games with the ongoing clash between the High Heavens and Burning Hells; no release date has been shared. The project follows Diablo IV’s 2023 launch and comes as the Diablo franchise marks its 30th anniversary in 2026.
Ahead of BlizzCon 2026, Blizzard's StarCraft site began glitching and unveiling an ARG with decrypted ASCII messages dated 2575, linking to Roxara and Theta Squadron. The logs suggest a looming threat or containment scenario, prompting fan theories about a new StarCraft shooter, a revival of StarCraft: Ghost, or a narrative-driven mainline title. The timing plus a BlizzCon schedule gap has fueled speculation of an official reveal, though Blizzard has not commented and Nexon-perimeter rumors add to the intrigue.