BlizzCon is an annual celebration of major game franchises by developer Blizzard Entertainment. Here are major announcements from the convention, taking place from November 3-4, 2023.
World of Warcraft
The War Within (Expansion 10)
The tenth expansion to retail WoW is called “The War Within”. The trailer features King Anduin Wrynn and Thrall in an incredible cinematic. The expansion will launch in 2024.
Worldsoul Saga
Chris Metzen, now out of retirement and back to work at Blizzard, serving as executive creative director, announced the next three expansions to WoW at BlizzCon. These form a greater plotline told in three parts known as the “Worldsoul Saga”. The new expansions include The War Within, Midnight, and The Last Titan.
WoW Cataclysm Classic
Blizzard finally caved in and gave fans official legacy servers after Nostalrius was shut down, which began with WoW Classic in 2019, then WoW TBC Classic in 2021, then WoW Wrath Classic in 2022. Now, fans can get excited as the fourth expansion will also be receiving legacy servers in the form of WoW Cata Classic.
WoW Classic Season of Discovery
Although WoW Classic was released with the original philosophy of #nochanges, Season of Discovery is finally looking to be the Classic+ fans have been asking for. Meaning, the original game but with new content released within that same state of the world.
Season of Discovery is launching on November 30, and it is bringing with it the ability for classes originally confined to a single role to serve in others, like allowing Mages to be healers or Warlocks to be tanks. It will also allow players to start doing endgame content at level 25. Blackfathom Deeps will become a 10-player raid, and there will be new PvP content–much of it taking place in Ashenvale.
Blizzard has made numerous efforts since 2019 to breathe additional life into WoW Classic beyond simply allowing people to relive the vanilla era of the MMO. After re-releasing all the old content through numerous phases up to and including Naxxramas, Blizzard has tried to give players reasons to come back.
Season of Mastery provided leveling boosts for all characters that started fresh on a new server to play through Classic’s content in a compressed release cycle. Hardcore mode, inspired by Diablo, had players attempting to hit level 60 without dying, for if they did, they would have to reroll.
Warcraft Rumble Is Now Live
The new Warcraft mobile game, designed in a similar vein to Clash of Clans, is now available for download on the App Store and Google Play. It offers PvE and PvP modes.
WoW on Console Discussion
In an interview with GamesRadar, World of Warcraft executive producer and vice president Holly Longdale did not confirm a console release of the popular MMO but said the team “is pretty well positioned” to bring it to Xbox in the future.
Diablo IV
Vessel of Hatred (Expansion 1)
Diablo IV will be receiving its first expansion, Vessel of Hatred, in late 2024. A new class and two new regions will be added to the game, with more details from Blizzard in the summer.
Diablo Tabletop RPG
In collaboration with Glass Cannon Unplugged and Genuine Entertainment, Blizzard announced that Diablo would be receiving a tabletop role-playing game (TTRPG) adaptation. The core book is set to launch in Fall 2024 and the pre-orders for the game will launch via Kickstarter.
The main inspiration for the TTRPG is Diablo IV, which “will further explore the overworld and underworld of Sanctuary, embarking on adventures above and below with fan-favorite mechanics torn straight from the screen.”
Hearthstone
Showdown in the Badlands (Expansion)
A new expansion for Hearthstone, entitled Showdown in the Badlands, will be launching on November 14th. It’s themed after the Wild West.
Overwatch 2
Blizzard had quite a bit to say about the future of Overwatch 2, including a new game mode, a new map, a new damage hero, and a new support hero.
The Overwatch World Cup will be starting right after the opening ceremony for BlizzCon finishes.
Mauga (New Tank Hero)
Mauga is a new tank that will be added to Overwatch 2 in the 8th season. The debut trailer was revealed at BlizzCon 2023.