BlizzCon 2019 News Roundup

BlizzCon 2019 News Roundup

BlizzCon 2019 News Roundup

BlizzCon 2019 has come and gone, and 2019 has been one of Blizzard’s big years in terms of announcements, revealing Diablo 4, Overwatch 2, and expansions for both World of Warcraft and Hearthstone. 

BlizzCon 2019 started off with an apology from Blizzard for the suspension of Blitzchung over the Hearthstone player’s political comments regarding Hong Kong, with Blizzard’s J. Allen Brack taking responsibility for the action. This article will focus on BlizzCon’s gaming announcements, leaving politics matters to other websites. 

Diablo 4

Gamers expected to hear about Diablo 4 at BlizzCon 2018, making last year’s reveal of Diablo Mobile a huge disappointment for fans of the series. Now, we know that Bizzard is working on a new entry into the Diablo series, complete with a darker story, graphical upgrades and the promise of no loading screens between dungeon levels.    

Diablo 4 has no firm release date, but at least we know that the game is in the works. When compared to Diablo 3, gamers can expect more complexity, returning game classes such as Diablo 2’s druid and a new skill system. 

With Diablo 4, Blizzard plans to make their game less linear by removing the act system from the series’ older entries. This will increase player freedom and give players more options to explore the game world. Sadly, Blizzard has also confirmed that Diablo 4 will lack an offline mode. 

Below is Diablo 4’s first gameplay trailer. 
 

Overwatch 2

Overwatch 2 has been announced, offering players the same multiplayer action that they love alongside new story-based PvE modes and a new PvP mode called push. Gamers can also expect to see engine upgrades from Blizzard, better graphics and both new and returning heroes. 

Old cosmetic items will carry forward to Overwatch 2, which means that your investment into existing characters won’t be for nought, but the game will undoubtedly come with new cosmetics and other in-game items to earn or purchase.

At this time, Overwatch 2 has no firm release date, but you can view the game’s gameplay trailer below.  

World of Warcraft: Shadowlands

To succeed Battle for Azeroth, Blizzard plans to release World of Warcraft: Shadowlands in 2020, bringing Sylvanas Windrunner further into the forefront as she usurps the Lich King’s throne and destroys his helm. 

Now we learn why “there much always be a Lich King”, as the destruction of his helm has created a portal into the Shadowlands, the land of the dead. From here, players can explore new zones, befriend new races and continue to act for or against Sylvanas’ schemes. 

With this expansion, today’s high-level characters will see their levels squished to 50 or 60, a change which will help Blizzard scale its levelling system moving forward. 

Shadowlands will release sometime in 2020, but before that, Battle for Azeroth still needs to be concluded. Below is the cinematic trailer for World of Warcraft: Shadowlands. 

Hearthstone: Descent of Dragons and Battlegrounds

On December 10th, Heartstone will receive its next expansion, Descent of Dragons. The expansion will bring with it new cards, a new keyword called Invoke and alongside it will come a new game mode called Battlegrounds. 

Battlegrounds will be an autobattler that builds on Hearthstone’s baseline, offering players an alternative to other autochess-style games. The mode will become available on November 12th, though those who pre-order Descent of Dragons packs will receive early access on November 5th. 

Below is a trailer for Hearthstone: Battlegrounds. 

You can join the discussion on BlizzCon 2019’s announcement on the OC3D Forums.Â