It really wasn't too much of a surprise to see Diablo 4 headline BlizzCon 2019 over the weekend. The game has been the subject of rumors for a long time, and in the past years or so, those rumors and reports have really ramped u[. Unfortunately, the game's appearance at BlizzCon doesn't mean we're closing in on release - on the contrary, it sounds like it'll be a long time before Diablo 4 is out.
China was watching as Blizzard Entertainment president J. Allen Brack walked onstage today at BlizzCon. Knowing full well that this event might be overshadowed by the biggest Blizzard-related news of the latter half of the year, Brack began the first major presentation of the event with what might've appeared to be an apology. He did use the word "sorry", but he did not use the words "China" or "Hong Kong" whatsoever.
Diablo 4 wasn't the only big reveal of BlizzCon 2019's opening ceremony, as Blizzard also announced Overwatch 2. Rumors and whispers heading into BlizzCon 2019 suggested such a reveal was going to happen, and it turns out they were right. Overwatch 2 will apparently put a heavier emphasis on PvE content, though fans who enjoy Overwatch's PvP modes will be taken care of as well.
As expected, Blizzard opened BlizzCon 2019 with the reveal of Diablo 4. Just like earlier leaks suggested, Diablo 4 sees the rise of a new Prime Evil: Lilith, the daughter of Mephisto. The game seems to be a return to form for the Diablo series, as Blizzard promises a game that is a lot darker in tone. Indeed, the two trailers Blizzard debuted today got that message across loud and clear, as they definitely aren't warm and inviting.
Later today, BlizzCon 2019 will kick off, and many of us are expecting it to be a big show. After an underwhelming BlizzCon 2018, rumor has it that Blizzard will pull out the big guns this year, revealing both Diablo 4 and Overwatch 2. When you consider that we'll probably also see new announcements regarding World of Warcraft and Hearthstone, it should be a pretty big show.
BlizzCon is set to kick off tomorrow, and Blizzard is widely expected to reveal Diablo 4 during the show. As with many expected big-name reveals, there have been a number of leaks surrounding the game, and the latest one paints an encouraging picture for those who have a soft spot for Diablo 2. It seems that Blizzard has looked to Diablo 2 for a lot of inspiration for Diablo 4, which should make a lot of franchise fans happy.
The Switch is a console that lends itself well to owning a digital library. With that focus on portability, there's something to be said for having most or all of your games installed on the console and ready to play, regardless of where you happen to be at the time. Still, there will always be many gamers who prefer owning physical copies of games, but if you're in that camp and you're planning on picking up Overwatch tomorrow, you might want to skip the physical copy and just buy directly from the Nintendo eShop.
Blizzard is one of several companies to fall into the trap that is state-run media in the nation of China in the year 2019. Blizzard hosts gaming tournaments in China - it's big business, and has the potential for big growth. China and Hong Kong are in the midst of political upheaval via a protest in Hong Kong that's been in play since June of 2019. Because China wants to stop the protest, they're pressuring all media (including Blizzard) to do away with any form of public protest on their network, lest they remove said media from China altogether.
There are a number of non-Nintendo characters in Super Smash Bros. Ultimate, and considering that most of the DLC characters so far have come from properties that Nintendo doesn't own, we'll probably see even more by the time everything is said and done. One of those characters could be from Overwatch, Blizzard's immensely popular team shooter game, assuming that Nintendo and Sora Ltd. are open to having such a character join the Ultimate roster.
It looks like some big changes are on the way to Overwatch. Blizzard has published a new update to the PTR that ships significant changes for a number of characters - all tallied up, around half the cast is being changed in some form. The update is so large that Blizzard is even referring to it as a "remaster" in its patch notes.
How on earth are you supposed to review something like World of Warcraft Classic? Not only are MMOs hard to review in the first place given their emphasis on community, but WoW Classic is already a known quantity. We already played this game 15 years ago - or, more specifically, 13 years ago as WoW Classic is based on patch 1.2 for vanilla WoW, which didn’t ship until 2006. Regardless of the specific moment in time WoW Classic captures, many of us have played this before, and we all likely have an opinion on how good this game is.
As expected, Nintendo has confirmed that hit Blizzard game Overwatch is coming to the Nintendo Switch console. The title was confirmed during the company's Nintendo Direct broadcast today, during which time the company also revealed plans to launch Luigi's Mansion 3 and other games.