Warcraft goes all out for its 30th anniversary, with releases, expansions, crossovers, and more

In 1994, Blizzard Entertainment completely changed the video game industry with the release of Warcraft: Orcs & Humans. The real-time strategy title quickly became an international phenomenon, leading to sequels and spin-offs, novels to expand the story of the world of Azeroth, and eventually the creation of what would become the largest MMORPG in the world. 30 years later the franchise is still going strong, and the developers behind it decided to celebrate with a special presentation.

And what better way to celebrate a series of games than with tons of announcements that will blow the minds of all fans with excitement? Here you will find everything that was announced today in celebration of 30 years of Warcraft.

Warcraft RTS is back

It may not be the Warcraft IV that many of us want, but the RTS team at Blizzard is not resting on its laurels. Today they revealed the launch of Warcraft III Reforged Patch 2.0, which includes new graphic assets for the game that raise its visual quality in a big way. Fortunately, the patch will allow you to customize your graphical options, so you can use the classic or HD models to your liking, even mixing them together to create the graphical look you want. Additionally, the patch includes Quality of Life improvements to gameplay, new gameplay options, and more.

But that’s not the team’s big surprise, as they also announced complete remasters for the first two games in the series: Warcraft: Orcs & Humans and Warcraft 2: Tides of Darkness!

In addition to being able to choose between remastered or classic graphics instantly, Warcraft I will include improvements that modernize its gameplay with new controls, faster speed, tons of QoL functionality, and much more in everything from menus to minute-by-minute gameplay. And if that wasn’t enough, the Warcraft Battle Chest is back in the form of a bundle that includes all three remasters of Blizzard’s classic RTS. Everything is available right now.

Hearthstone celebrates 10 years with an unexpected expansion

160 billion games played in the last 10 years are just the beginning for Hearthstone, the card game inspired by the world of Warcraft, and the team is ready for the next 10 years. Leo Robles Gonzáles, Lead Game Designer for Hearthstone, took the stage to reveal Heroes of Starcraft, a collaboration that takes Starcraft a Hearthstone, admitting that after a decade of only Warcraft, “It’s about time.” Zergs, Terrans, and Protos arrive represented in the game, including new heroes in the form of Kerrigan, Arthanis, and Jim Raynor, each available for different classes within the game.

This mini set includes settings that best represent Starcraft, with units and creatures from the sci-fi series and even Grunty, the Murlok in Terran armor. Heroes of Starcraft will arrive in January 2025.

On top of this, big changes are coming to Hearthstone, with Arena getting a big change in the coming months. Now there will be two arenas, one with a shorter format, while the other will take us to the Underground Arena, with longer confrontations and redraft to improve your deck and return. These changes will arrive in the first half of 2025.

This won’t be the only change coming to Hearthstone. The year of the Raptor is what’s coming up for the next 12 months. The next expansions in this new season begin with “Into the Emerald Dream”, followed by “The Shrouded City” ended by “The Heroes of Time”.

Warcraft Rumble celebrates 1 year of success on mobile

Vik Saraf, executive producer of Warcraft Rumble, together with Jeremy Collins, Art Director, showed the new functions that have arrived throughout this year and its seasons. But of course, there are new things to come. To celebrate this first year, there will be rewards like the Gold Kobold. One of the new updates will be the split leaders, such as Malfurion, Ogrim and Anb’arak, as well as Silvanas, who are part of 2 factions at the same time to represent their original roles in the history of Warcraft.

But as always, there’s something else to mention - Warcraft Rumble is coming to PC, starting with an open beta on December 10.

World of Warcraft turns 20 years old

Holy Longdale, executive producer of World of Warcraft, began by remembering what the world was like 20 years ago, and how the history of WoW has been a part, with a billion days that have passed in Azeroth, as a place where many people of different skills can do in real life. As an example, they mentioned ‘The Remarkable Life of Ibelin’, a documentary that shares the story of a young player who, despite suffering from a serious illness that prevented him from living his life like everyone else, managed to flourish within World of Warcraft, forging friendships and alliances in Azeroth and leaving their mark on the world because of it.

World of Warcraft Classic will receive The Ahn’Qurian Gates as part of the next phase of Season of Discovery. Additionally, the Scarlet Crusade begins as the next content to be unlocked. Firelands recently arrived in Cataclysm Classic, with the latest raids arriving next year. And with this, it is announced that Mists of Pandaria Classic is the next thing to arrive in summer 2025.

World of Warcraft Classic will also receive a “20th Anniversary Edition,” opening up new worlds for those who want to experience the classic game with a completely fresh start. From a new economy to the state of the world as it was during the MMORPG’s original launch in 2004, these new servers are a great way to jump into the title for nostalgia or adventure.

As for The War Within, the next patch is coming very soon with a continuation of the story, which will include a new explorable area called The Siren Isle with a new character that was revealed in the expansion’s launch trailer. Additionally, we will be able to explore Undermine later in the next patch after that, the underground city of the goblins, where we will ally ourselves with one of the 4 goblin clans to compete for control of the streets aboard new vehicles, and with a new dungeon that explores a luxurious casino that holds secrets from one of the most powerful goblins in history.

And one more thing...

Of course, there’s something else the Warcraft team had to show us - our first look at World of Warcraft: Midnight, the MMORPG’s next expansion. With only the reference that the adventure will begin “at home”, no further details have been given in this regard.

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