BlizzCon 2023: everything announced at the Opening Ceremony

The BlizzCon 2023 Opening Ceremony has come and gone, bringing with it a slew of new expansions for the Blizzard game catalog. An important ceremony for the company, where Mike Ybarra, President of Blizzard, mentioned: “The Blizzard we are today, and the Blizzard we are coming” and a “Start of a new era” for the company.

Let’s take a look at everything that was announced during the event:

Everything Announced at BlizzCon 2023

Blizzard and Xbox

Phil Spencer, CEO of Microsoft Gaming made an appearance on the main stage. “Your love for these games truly is inspiring,” he said, stating that “Blizzard occupies a special place in the gaming industry. Throughout Blizzard’s history.”

According to Spencer, Microsoft’s plan “is to bring more great games, to more players in more places.” To that end, while he didn’t go to deep into details about their plans, he assured the audience and BlizzCon 2023 that they want to “nurture the essence of what has made Blizzard unique,” which is something that will surely put the fans’ mind at ease going forward with the acquisition.

Overwatch 2

Dion Rogers, the art director of the game was the chosen one to present the new hero, Mauga, a tank with heavy guns, and a heavier presence in the Arena.

Bathed in Samoan culture, from his tattooed looks to the booming voice lines in Samoan, Mauga was actually introduced four years ago in a short story. His name means “Mountain” in his language, which should speak to the way the new hero will play on the battlefield. He wields two chainguns and has trapping abilities for crowd control. More details about him will be revealed later during the event. Mauga will be available to test during this weekend.

Soe Gschwind, of the Overwatch Esports team, walked on the stage to announce the start of the Overwatch World Cup 2023.

And just as a reminder: Le Sserafim x Overwatch 2 collaboration will continue tomorrow with the K-Pop band after the community night.

More collaborations are coming on 2024, on the same vein as One Punch Man. A new PvP mode named Clash will arrive next year, where teams fight to conquer 5 control points. The rebirth of one of the original maps will arrive with Hanaoka.

Diablo IV

Rod Fergussontool the stage to talk about the new features that will arrive to Sanctuary in the following months.

Boss Ladder is a new endgame mode where players will battle a series of bosses obtaining new cosmetic prizes. Available from Level 55-100, this mode sees the return of classic bosses from the franchise, like the Lord of Maggots himself, Duriel (with an Uber version).

Quality of life, renown awards will carry from season to season. Additional character slots will be made available, and Search and Filter options are coming to the stash, as well as Gems and Skulls becoming crafting materials to save even more inventory space.

The Abattoir of Zir is a new Pinnacle event, meaning it’s meant for players who have already reached the max level of 100, and already managed to defeat Uber Duriel. This is an extremely difficult activity meant for expanding the endgame even more.

A separate Diablo IV team has been working on the future of the game, with the devs showing off an early teaser for what will be the game’s first epansion, all about the Lord of Hatred, Mephisto. The expansion is titled Vessel of Hatred, and it’s set to arrive in late 2024. It’ll include a new area, new levels, and a completely new class that has never been in the Diablo franchise before.

Warcraft

John Hight, General Manager of Warcraft, opened up the franchise’s section of the ceremony. Celebrating the almost 30 years of the franchise, which includes not only the classic RTS games, but also World of Warcraft and HearthStone.

HearthStone

Showdown in the Badlands is the game’s next expansion, bringing a wild west style to the long-running cardgame. Barf brawls, railroads, heists, and Kobolds come together to bring an entirely new set of cards Hearthstone. It’s actually an origin story for what have become the protagonists of many of the spin-off expansions.

The team has also announced Catch-Up packs. These packs include up to 15 cards in every one of them, all from within the last 2 years of expansions. This is meant as a new way to help new and returning players to jump into the current meta, while also helping others complete their collections. Catch-Up Packs will be available starting November 15.

A new mode is coming to HearthStone Battlegrounds: Duos. This is a new co-op mode in which you and a friend will team up to fight your enemies with a shared health pool. Its launch is planned for early next year.

Warcraft Rumble

Vik Saraf, executive producer of Warcraft Rumble, came on stage to show off the mobile title. A year after its original announcement, they’re now ready to delve into it.

Called an “action strategy game”, Rumble will include a PvE campaign, dynamic PvP, boss fights, and more, all coming from the Warcraft Universe reimagined through “joyful chaos”. The game is available right now. This also marks the beginning of the title’s first Season, with the release of a new mini: Sylvanas.

World of Warcraft

Cataclysm, the fourth expansion of World of Warcraft, will make its way to World of Warcraft Classic. The expansion that ended up changing the game forever, from its map to the way it plays, will come to the alternate server with its Goblins and Worgens, and the chaos of Deathwing’s destruction will scar Azeroth once again.

Season of Discovery is a new addition to Classic that brings new content, from new and reimagined bosses. There will be a level cap of 25, with it being increased gradually for players to explore Azeroth like never before. This new mode is launching on November 30.

On the “retail” version of WoW, the Dragonflight expansion is getting the “Guardians of the Dream” update, coming next week. however, this will not be the last chapter of the expansion, as more was teased to bridge the road to what is coming next to the legendary MMO.

Chris Metzen, now the executive creative director of the Warcraft universe, went up on the stage to address the fans. Besides being received by the audience with roaring cheering, With many mysteries still unanswered, the director announced “The Worldsoul Saga”, a new storyline that will take several expansions to complete. It is a culmination of 20 years of plotlines and events that aim to set the stage for the future of the series.

Thus, Metzen unveiled the first looks at the next 3 upcoming expansions:

“Now is the time to come home”, said Metzen, promising an epic storyline that is being created with passion (and copious amounts of hype). After all, as he said, when it comes to Warcraft storytelling, “We aren’t screwing around.”

The War Within will release next year, on 2024