Not at all my review of BlizzCon or its announcements, but just a note about what the big four announcements that came up in the opening ceremony.
Diablo IV
As expected, the next entry in the Diablo franchise is finally here.
The focus is darkness, world, and legacy. They want to get back to what the series was like, while keeping the snappy game play of Diablo III.
There is a cinematic and a game play trailer available to watch. This was the first of the four main stage presentations lined up for today.
World of Warcraft Shadowlands
The next expansion for WoW.
Sylvannas is off to Ice Crown to take us to the world beyond death. This ended up as the third unannounced panel on the main stage for today.
The Lich King awaits
Available for pre-order today, launching in 2020. There is also a cinematic and an expansion overview video.
Hearthstone Descent of Dragons
And then Hearthstone got a new expansion. I figured on that.
What I did not count on is that Blizzard would decide to go with Hearthstone as the basis for their new 8 player Auto Chess/Auto Battler destination.
There is, of course, a cinematic video for the expansion and a trailer for the new mode, which is called Battlegrounds. This ended up as the fourth unannounced presentation on the main stage.
Overwatch 2
Not unexpected.
Overwatch 2 will have new modes, new maps, some new heroes as well as a PvE campaign. It will be linked into Overwatch, so players of the original will get to play with owners of the new game where they overlap and all your goodies and progress will be saved.
This ended up as the second big main stage presentation today. And naturally there is a cinematic trailer and a game play video to go along with the announcement.
Other Items
There was an statement up front by J. Allen Brack about the Hong Kong fiasco with an apology and a promise to do better, hinged on watching Blizzards actions going forward. This won’t be enough for some I am sure, but it was more than I expected.
StarCraft II and Heroes of the Storm also got small mentions, the usual additions one might expect for titles on the back burner. Also, Warcraft III reforged is expanding its beta. I’m already able to download it.
WoW Classic also got a mention. It was the minimum I expected, the phase 2 unlock date. But J. Allen Brack also mentioned that they would be serving vanilla ice cream at BlizzCon. He didn’t think we would want that, buy maybe we really do.
The last two unannounced presentation slots were for Diablo IV related panels on day two, so nothing else new to come.
Anyway, much more to watch and think about over the weekend. Look for a post on Monday I suppose. I get an extra hour to work on it this weekend as Daylight Savings Time ends on Sunday.
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