How to watch BlizzConline's opening ceremony and game panels

Thank to the COVID-19 pandemic, last year Blizzard decided to not only delay BlizzCon – its annual event where it details new games and major updates to its existing lineup of titles – but also to turn it into an online-only affair. This new event, dubbed BlizzConline, is finally happening this weekend, and judging by some of the leaks so far, it'll definitely be worth tuning into despite the fact that it's going to have a very different feel.

This year, things are running a bit differently than they normally would. While Blizzard usually broadcasts the BlizzCon opening ceremony free for everyone to watch, typically the panels and deep dives that follow require a virtual BlizzCon ticket. That isn't the case this year as everything is free to watch, and you have a lot of options when it comes to how to watch everything the company has prepared for BlizzConline.

The main attraction for most, however, will be the BlizzConline opening ceremony, which is where Blizzard will make all of its big announcements for the year ahead. The easiest way to watch is through the Blizzard channel on the BlizzCon website, though Blizzard and The Game Awards will both be hosting the opening ceremony on their respective YouTube channels. If you want to watch in a language other than English, Blizzard likely has you covered there too, and you can find links to foreign language streams in this blog post on the BlizzCon site.

It's there that you'll also find links to various game channels that will host panels and deep dives following the opening ceremony. The Blizzard channel linked above will be rotating through events and panels from all six channels, but if you're primarily interested in one game over any of the others – say, World of Warcraft or Diablo – you're probably better off tuning into that game's specific channel.

Even without an in-person event, it seems like BlizzConline will have a packed schedule. The hour-long opening ceremony kicks off today at 2PM PST/5 PM EST, so if you're a fan of one or multiple Blizzard games, be sure to set aside some time later today to catch it.