BlizzCon 2023 took place this weekend and Blizzard took the opportunity to announce a lot of news.
For the first time since the pandemic ended, BlizzCon took place this weekend, the event for fans of Blizzard Entertainment’s games, including World of Warcraft, Hearthstone, Diablo and Overwatch.
First BlizzCon since 2019
The return of BlizzCon was quite special for even more reasons. After all, it is also the first BlizzCon since the acquisition of Blizzard by Microsoft was completed. That happened on October 13, 2023 a monster sum of $69 billion. Xbox boss Phil Spencer therefore made an appearance during the opening ceremony of the event. In his speech he talked about the impressive history of Blizzard and the impactful titles that the publisher has created over the years. He also promised to maintain Blizzard’s uniqueness. It remained silent about how the games will be integrated into the Microsoft ecosystem.
It’s also the first BlizzCon since the 2021 lawsuits were settled around the ‘frat boy culture’ within the company, which was the basis of inappropriate behavior and discrimination. Blizzard ultimately paid $18 million to the Equal Employment & Opportunity Commission to compensate former employees and paid $35 million to the Securities & Exchange Commission for failing to have the necessary systems in place to prevent this type of behavior.
Lots of announcements
Fans present at BlizzCon seemed to have forgiven the publisher and fully celebrated the many announcements made during the event. World of Warcraft took center stage with the announcement of not one, not two, but four expansions. In addition to the announcement that Cataclysm will be added to World of Warcraft: Classic, Blizzard announced plans for The Worldsoul Saga, an ambitious new project from Blizzard that will span three expansions. The first expansion, The War Within, will be released in 2024. World of Warcraft: Midnight and World of Warcraft: The Last Titan will follow later. Plenty of content for fans to get excited about.
Blizzard still has a fire to put out, because for the first time you can gain access to the new content three days earlier by purchasing an expansion in advance. This angered fans, who fear that communities will be split into players who do and do not have the financial resources to purchase the most expensive pre-order, a purchase of 89.99 euros.
Another major expansion was announced for Diablo IV. Vessel of Hatred will also be released in 2024 and more details will be announced next summer, but what is already known is that players will learn the fate of the evil Mephisto and his diabolical plans for Sanctuary.
A new Hero was announced for Overwatch 2 in the form of Mauga, a tank that will be playable from season 8 but can already be tested this weekend. The Overwatch team also revealed that more is planned, including the brand new Clash PvP game mode where players will visit the new map Hanaoka, inspired by an original fan favorite, Hanamura.
The new expansion for Hearthstone is already known (Showdown in the Badlands will be released on November 13), but Battlegrounds Duos was announced, a new way to play Battlegrounds together. Two players can work together and strategize, sharing cards, health and resources while working with special Duos cards and synergies.
Finally it became Warcraft Rumble officially launched on Friday and is the latest mobile game from Blizzard, making it playable on both Android and iOS. In the strategy game, you play as your favorite Warcraft characters and complete missions and other challenges in the form of multi-part dungeons, PvP and more.
