The COVID-19 pandemic has claimed a lot of games that were slated to be out at some point in 2020, but throughout the changes necessitated by the spread of the disease, Blizzard has insisted that World of Warcraft: Shadowlands will still be out this year. As surprising as it may be, that is one promise the company can apparently keep, as Blizzard has revealed the release date for Shadowlands.
This morning Blizzard released the latest expansion for the digital collectable card game Hearthstone. This latest expansion goes by the name Scholomance Academy, and it includes 135 new cards in total. With the launch of this set, gamers are able to claim a couple of free packs of cards after they play 25 cards in Play mode.
Blizzard has released a new free soundtrack for its hit Overwatch game, offering fans new music related to the cities and countries featured in the fictional world. This isn't the first album Blizzard has offered Overwatch for free; anyone can also stream its "Collector's Edition Soundtrack" and the "Synaesthesia Auditiva" album, as well.
World of Warcraft players will soon be able to change their character's gender without paying the somewhat hefty fee, Blizzard has revealed. The change will arrive as part of the recently detailed Shadowlands expansion, which will arrive for everyone later this year. As of now, players who don't want to pay the fee can still change their character's gender presentation for free.
As of this afternoon, Blizzard made it official: There will be no BlizzCon 2020. This is an update to a previously-released statement that said they'd be considering the future. Now it's become a more solid understanding that BlizzCon 2020 will, indeed, be cancelled outright. This does not mean that future BlizzCon events will be held, only that here in 2020, there will be BlizzCon whatsoever.
Goodbye productivity, it was nice knowing you - Diablo II was tipped to be re-released in a remastered edition for later this year. A report this week suggests that the game Diablo 2: Resurrected will be developed by the support studio for Destiny 2. If this is true, Blizzard Entertainment will likely bring some big heat to the game in the next few weeks and months preceding the release of the game - one of the most massive online games to ever ruin your highschool years due to its higher-than-average ability to keep you addicted to the realm.
Despite the fact that many people are working from home, Blizzard has managed to serve up a new PTR patch release for its Overwatch game, one that focuses entirely on communication. The team explains that Overwatch's Communication Wheel has been updated; players now have the opportunity to customize the responses they have quick access to, say new phrases, and more.
Those currently in quarantine are largely turning to streaming movie services and video games to stay entertained. One persistently popular game with a number of players who will sign in this weekend is World of Warcraft, which just added a special perk for players who are staying indoors. As of Friday and lasting through late April, Blizzard is giving players a big experience buff.
In recent days, Overwatch League announced that it had rescheduled certain matches that had originally been set to take place in China, but that had to be canceled due to the coronavirus outbreak. The makeup matches were rescheduled to take place in South Korea, but now the league has been forced to cancel those matches, too, as the virus spreads into the nation.
Around two years since we last heard rumors about the show, it has been all but confirmed that an anime based on Diablo is heading to Netflix. This project has been in the pipeline for years, at least based on when the rumors first started surfacing. Joining the new details is a small teaser about an animated Overwatch series, as well, though it's unclear whether it, too, will end up on Netflix.
Blizzard may have been getting a lot of flak lately for its failure to reinvigorate the classic WarCraft III through its Reforged remaster but that is just one of the recent high-profile flops the game developer has made. More than a decade ago, it called quits on what could have been a major milestone for Blizzard's entry into the console space but, after years of delays, StarCraft: Ghost was eventually canceled. Now thanks to the magic of the Internet and some brave source, the public is getting a taste of what the game on the Xbox could have been.
Overwatch League, the professional esports league that was forced to cancel a number of matches in China over the novel coronavirus outbreak, has announced that it will hold makeup matches for those events in South Korea. The decision to hold these matches in Seoul was made 'in order to protect the health and safety of our fans, players, and staff,' according to the league.