2023-10-01 09:40:02
This is a first since 2019: Blizzcon, the event organized by Blizzard to talk regarding the future of its games, returns to physics and to its traditional start of November. This year, it will be held on the weekend of November 3, still at the Anaheim Convention Center. A galloping return to nature? We take stock of what we can expect.
Summary
World of WarcraftWorld of Warcraft ClassicWorld of Warcraft RetailHearthstoneWarcraft RumbleDiabloOverwatch 2Les autres jeux BlizzardLes conséquences du rachat par Microsoft
World of Warcraft
Among the most likely announcements (but not guaranteed), the MMO World of Warcraft remains in pole position. Whether for its version say “Classic” but also for its Retail version.
What is the difference between WoW Classic and WoW Retail?
WoW Classic offers the experience “old” of World of Warcraft, the one exactly experienced by players when the game and its first two expansions were released. WoW Retail offers a more modern experience. It inherited the name retail at the time to designate the official game (the one found in commerce, hence retail) in opposition to the numerous private servers of the time.
World of Warcraft Classic
As a logical next step, Blizzard can take advantage of BlizzCon to announce the arrival of the Cataclysm expansion on Classic servers. Enough to offer players the opportunity to continue the adventure. In fact, October 10 marks the end of the journey to Northrend on Wrath of the Lich King Classic with the deployment of the last phase: phase 4. This is the update entitled Fall of the Lich King and which opens the raid of Icecrown Citadel. The heroes of Azeroth face the final boss Arthas in his Lich form.
If Blizzard therefore decides to follow up, it will necessarily go through Cataclysm. An extension which is not necessarily the best placed in the hearts of the majority: the talent tree has been completely redesigned (which will serve as a draft for that of Mists of Pandaria, which lasted for around ten years), an interface allowing you to search for groups has been added. In short, many tools have been integrated to make the game easier and attract a new audience. The regulars have seen their habits turned upside down.
However, Blizzard does not rule out changes. In April 2022, Game Director Ion Hazzikostas briefly discusses the future regarding Classic. It indicates that the teams ask themselves questions regarding the wishes of the players : “Do they want to try another version once the last boss is beaten? Do they want to transport their character to a new adventure?“. He also adds to take into consideration the feedback from players on Cataclysm to, probably, offer a Best Of version:
What don’t you like regarding Cataclysm? Was it the heroic dungeons? Was the Firelands raid a bad one? (…) What would it look like if we had Cata content with “some changes”?
It is clear that “Classic” players should have their eyes glued to Blizzcon to find out the future of their favorite version of WoW since it is with Cataclysm that the biggest changes are being made. Despite six expansions released since then, the differences between Cataclysm and Wrath of the Lich King are greater than those between Cataclysm and Dragonflight. Before the revolution?
World of Warcraft Retail
There is no doubt that the Retail version of World of Warcraft will also rear its head, at least with Dragonflight. In September, Blizzard announced the content of the last major patch for the expansion. His name is The Guardians of the Dream and adds a new raid, a new zone, and a whole new questline. The only unknown? Release date. Blizzard might well take advantage of Blizzcon to communicate it since it has already done so before with other major patches (this was the case for 9.1.0, Shadowlands Chains of Domination).
Beyond the very probable, rumors are swirling behind the scenes. We can bet, in a fairly classic way, on the announcement of the tenth expansion of the game. But in 2024, the game will celebrate its twentieth anniversary. Interviewed by several media (including JV), Ion Hazzikostas and Holly Longdale (Vice-President and Executive Producer on World of Warcraft) suggest that they want to mark the occasion for this anniversary. Something strong that would allow them to resolve the problems they face with the current version of World of Warcraft and in particular that of unusable iconic zones:
If you step back and look at World of Warcraft as a living world, it’s almost like we’ve put ourselves in a corner where we have all these iconic locations, but we can’t really use them because they already have been.
In the same way, a Cataclysm-style revolution can bring new antagonists to the forefront. Ion Hazzikostas says it himself, the teams have almost exhausted a majority of Warcraft content for the MMO. We must therefore innovate.
We can also think of the use of several temporal periods like Warlords of Draenor (extension of the ten years of WoW which was not unanimous either), think of a more general extension where several eras are visitable. Temporal threads which are, on top of that, one of the main subjects of 10.1.5. In short, according to Ion Hazzikostas “the best is yet to come for WoW” and as Illidan would say, “we’re probably not ready“.
Hearthstone
To stay in the Warcraft universe, Hearthstone should undoubtedly also be present at the beginning of November. Every year, Blizzard Team 5 unveils its calendar for its card game. We are currently approaching phase 3: in a very traditional way, the next expansion should be announced at BlizzCon for a release scheduled for early December. The month of January will welcome a big update concerning Battlegrounds while the mini-set for the constructed mode should arrive at the beginning of February.
However, there remains a question. On the roadmap above, there is still a “spell locked”. This is content that has not been announced. Best case scenario, this might be a new mode for Hearthstone. As a reminder, Battlegrounds and Mercenaries were announced at Blizzcon. What to be excited regarding as we approach the card game segment
Warcraft Rumble
To conclude with Warcraft, we must remember the existence of Warcraft Rumble. A game intended for mobiles (iOS and Android) which mixes action and strategy with characters from Blizzard’s flagship license. Initially scheduled for 2022, Arclight Rumble has been quiet for several months.
Why can we wait for it then? We can imagine that if Blizzard had anticipated a release in 2022, Warcraft Rumble might have been released in those waters. A delay quickly arrived. Perhaps the game has been ready since then and the studio is just looking for the perfect opportunity to announce its release. Blizzcon is probably this ideal opportunity in terms of audience but also calendar : we will then have passed the majority of the big releases of the year. What sustains hope? Pre-registrations made available on the Apple Store recently,
Diablo
Alongside World of Warcraft, Diablo 4 is the game of the moment. Released on June 6 on PC and PS4, PS5, Xbox Series and Xbox One consoles, the title puts an end to more than ten years of scarcity. It won over the press and established itself in many homes. This is evidenced by the colossal sales figures it achieved a week following its release: it generated $666 million, with a minimum of six million copies sold. However, the criticism has continued to mount, especially with the rollout of season 1.
Blizzard will therefore be keen to (re)conquer the disappointed part of the public. A work that goes through season 2, that of blood. Announced at Gamescom in August, it will be deployed in mid-October. In the same way, we can think that Blizzard plans to reveal part of the future of Diablo 4. In an interview with JV, franchise boss Rod Fergusson explains that teams have already looked far ahead for seasons. An extension is even already in development. Once once more, Blizzcon seems the perfect opportunity for the publisher to show that it has something under the hood with its third season and its first expansion.
Quickly mentioned above, the reputation of Diablo 4 is still to be established. The user score on metacritic is in the red. Recently, players have even been complaining regarding the absence of features even though they are present in Diablo Immortal! Conversely, the episode intended for mobiles seems to be in very good shape since a certain routine of content has been established. There is no doubt that we should expect to see announcements concerning it.
Overwatch 2
It’s with Overwatch 2 that it’s more difficult to read between the lines of Blizzard’s strategy. When rereading the 2023 roadmap, everything that was planned has been released or is regarding to be released with season 7 (October 10): Invasion mode, Mastery mode, but also hero balancing including the rework of Sombra. There are also rumors on the Internet regarding an upcoming collaboration with Diablo 4. This is not surprising since Overwatch 2 seems focused on this type of collaboration. Around March, the game welcomed a partnership with One Punch Man.
Once once more, it is therefore difficult to know what Blizzard has planned for its team shooter. It’s hard to imagine the studio not presenting it on stage, especially since it will be keen to (re)conquer the hearts of certain players. Since its release on Steam, ”’Overwatch 2 has been the lowest rated game on the platform. A very sad record for the continuation of the title which won the GOTY in 2016.
Other Blizzard games
As for rumors, there are quite a few things that might be officially announced at Blizzcon. This is for example the case for the resurrection of Starcraft. The real-time strategy (RTS) game license, which contributed to Blizzard’s success in the early 2000s, might well make its return to California at the beginning of November. On July 14, journalist Jez Corden explained that the license was not dead : the most optimistic have already started to fantasize regarding a Starcraft 3. An enthusiasm that the journalist quickly hastened to calm down to clarify that “the franchise was not dead”.
The survival game developed by Blizzard in a new universe is not dead but remains very discreet. Announced in the wake of the acquisition of Activision Blizzard King by Xbox, the title gets very little attention. We had to wait almost a year following the announcement of the game to learn that the teams were doubled on the project. Since then, it has been radio silence. Before a presentation that makes a big splash at BlizzCon?
The consequences of the takeover by Microsoft
Finally, we can also expect several types of announcements regarding Blizzard franchises following the acquisition by Microsoft. Validated by the European Commission, the acquisition is more than on the right track for the Redmond firm. The Federal Trade Commission’s appeal to block it was also refused and following an initial veto by the CMA (United Kingdom), the British body approved for the first time at the end of last week. A final response is expected on October 18.
If such an acquisition were to be validated, it is likely that plans would open up for Blizzard. BlizzCon would then be the ideal opportunity to announce all of this. It would not be surprising in any case: it was the Xbox/Bethesda conference that the Californian studio favored to announce the release date and the economic model (free-to-play) of Overwatch 2. It is also on this occasion that the necromancer had been presented for Diablo 4. However, it is true that the 2023 edition was much less packed with Blizzard games. But this can be explained in several ways. First of all, Microsoft and Activision Blizzard’s hands were probably tied. With the uncertainty around the takeover looming at the time, it was difficult to throw everything out at once. On the other hand, Blizzard had canceled its conference in 2022 to reinvent itself. It’s a safe bet that Bli² wants to keep the spotlight on its program with its own lounge.
From there, it is easy to theorize regarding possible announcements made on the subject. The arrival of Blizzard titles in Game Pass, the development of console versions of games like Hearthstone or World of Warcraft (Final Fantasy 14 being on PlayStation). Only the imagination of the players can act as a limit at this level. See you from November 3 to continue dreaming or be brought back to Earth.
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