BlizzCon 2026 Opening Ceremony Live Blog

BlizzCon 2026 is finally here, and the Opening Ceremony is on the way.

We have Ryan on-site at the show, and Cass at home watching the news roll in.

Below, we’re going to be dropping news as we see it. So keep refreshing the page and follow along as we watch all of the announcements from BlizzCon 2026.

And be sure to bookmark and follow Rogue, as Ryan will be posting impressions and videos from the con for the rest of the weekend and all of next week.

Live Blog

Xal'atath is coming to Heroes of the Storm

Oh, Heroes of the Storm, my beloved. This was Blizzard's attempt to get in on the MOBA craze with their own game, stuffed full of villains and heroes from their various properties. I actually really liked Heroes of the Storm, and when Blizzard moved the game into maintenance mode back in 2018, I was a little sad to see the game go. It's remained online this entire time, and it still has a fervent fan base. During the opening ceremony, president Johanna Faries announced that current World of Warcraft bad guy Xal'atath will be joining the Nexus, with a second new hero in development.

Diablo animated series officially in production at Netflix

Faries also shared that a Diablo animation is in the works in partnership with Netflix, and hinted that other Blizzard properties like Overwatch could be getting the same treatment. Diablo has always been my least favorite of the Blizzard universes, since it just seems so miserable to live in that world, but it'll be interesting to see if Blizzard's cinematic style translates over into a longer-form series.

New StarCraft shooter unveiled with a grim cinematic

Dan Hay came on the stage next to announce the next StarCraft title, which shows a freshly trained Terran marine being deployed against Zerg and getting swiftly mulched while Dominion propaganda plays. We didn't get much in the way of details about what to expect from this open-world shooter, but the vibe does seem a little bit Helldivers-esque. The expected release date in 2030, so it'll be quite a wait, and we'll likely see gameplay in action as we get closer to that launch.

Overwatch's newest hero, Doctrine, teams up with Doomfist

Aaron Keller took the stage next, and we got a look at the game's newest narrative cinematic, showing Doomfist and his allies searching for a new ally. Doomfist was ousted from his leadership position at Talon by Vendetta at the start of this year. Over the past few months, Overwatch's narrative has been all about her reign of terror in Gibraltar, Japan, and Korea.

Doomfist survived his defenestration at the hands of Vendetta, and he regrouped with Reaper, Sombra, and Widowmaker. This animation showed his small squad breaking into a prison to find the game's newest hero: Doctrine. Doctrine will debut with season five next month, which also includes a new map and reworks for Roadhog and Sombra. If you want to give this support vampire a spin, a hero trial will run starting today through Sept. 14.

Diablo 5 announced; Diablo 4 gets some goodies

The Diablo franchise is thirty years old now, so it's no surprise that Blizzard had some big announcements to share here. The trusty Deckard Cain is making a return in the new Hells Legacy event to help you battle against Baal, Mephisto, and Diablo in a bit of a history lesson covering the biggest battles of previous games. The Amazon is also the next class to join Diablo 4, with her class pack going live in the first half of 2027.

Blizzard also revealed Diablo 5 with a cinematic, showing demons shambling through the woods and fervent believers hanging human sacrifices. The game is set in a world without heroes, where Sanctuary has fallen and Diablo has won. The release date is currently set for spring 2029.

Hearthstone gets a new class, expansion, and a 2v2 game mode

Hearthstone is the little spin-off that could, turning from an experimental project into one of Blizzard's more consistently successful games. The Hearthstone developers have the freedom to delve into the various little niches of Azeroth, and there are times where the spin-off designs absolutely mog the source material with more inventive designs and creative premises.

The next Hearthstone expansion is Old Gods-themed, with turbocharged versions of long-time antagonists like N'Zoth and Y'Shaarg. Reign of the Black Empire is set during the battle between the Old Gods and the Titans, and the expansion comes with the keyword Assemble, which allows the player to merge two cards together to create a stronger contender.

The Monk, originally introduced in Mists of Pandaria, is finally making it to Hearthstone as its own class. Chen Stormstout, the brewmaster, will represent the Monk in the battlefield. The class is set to release in March of 2027.

What's next for World of Warcraft: Midnight and The Last Titan?

Holly Longdale took to the stage, executive producer on World of Warcraft, and she made a pretty big swing fashion-wise that I think I quite liked, actually. It's not quite cosplay, and one could argue that it's overdressed for the stage, but you know what? After seeing Ion Hazzikostas come out in jeans, t-shirt, and a sweater, I'm all-in on Longdale's outfit. We should absolutely make all of these people come out dressed in fantasy regalia.

Hazzikostas announced the next major update for Midnight, Patch 12.2: Eclipse. Xal'atath has nearly achieved her ultimate objective, which has been pretty opaque so far, but a new cinematic looks like it'll shed some light on that mystery. We see Xal'atath, with her Void army, approaching a massive Titan gate that guards the World Soul. A digital Keeper appears to block her path, and Xal'atath only briefly banters with him before using her Void energy to rip him apart, open the gate, and declare that she will merge with Azeroth's World Soul.

We're only halfway through the World Soul Saga, so I'm assuming we're going to have to head down into Azeroth to stop Xal'atath from achieving her goal. Hazzikostas says that Eclipse will set the stage narratively for The Last Titan and the expansions beyond the World Soul Saga, so the team won't be able to discuss too much about the Northrend-centered expansion until early next year. We did get a glimpse at a teaser, showing the landmarks of Wyrmrest Temple and Icecrown Citadel shaking as an enormous Titan mech approaches.

Warcraft 3 gets a new campaign in Forsaken Kingdom

Warcraft 3 Reforged was a disappointment, an unfortunate case where Blizzard removed your access to the original copy to sell an "upgrade" of lesser quality. While the developer returned to patch and polish the project, I didn't expect new content for the RTS, let alone with a beefy new story campaign called Forsaken Kingdom.

Forsaken Kingdom takes place in the kingdom of Lordaeron, which fell during the undead invasion of Warcraft 3. The campaign is available today, and it centers around the transition between Terenas Menethil's assassination and the rise of the Forsaken, the undead survivors who broke free from the Lich King's control. We got to see undead paladins, a battle with the Scarlet Crusade, and a glimpse of Sylvanas leading the Undercity.

World of Warcraft Forever builds off the success of Classic

In 2015, Blizzard's response to the fan demand for classic World of Warcraft was "you think you want it, but you don't." World of Warcraft Classic ended up releasing in 2019, and the experiment was so successful, Blizzard is building off it with World of Warcraft Forever, which Longdale describes as Classic Plus. The dwarf hunter from the very first cinematic made a return, travelling around the world to see zones like Dalaran and Hyjal, which were originally closed off to players.

Forever will run alongside the live World of Warcraft servers and Classic game modes, and these servers are focused less on one central story against world-ending threats, and more on smaller-scale stories against local threats. There will be new zones (Mount Hyjal, Zephras Isle, Riverglades), expanded original zones, new dungeons and raids, a new battleground, and a new player race. There's even a new race, an undiscovered variety of elves known as the Skyborne.

World of Warcraft Forever will be available in seven weeks, so it won't take too long before players can get their hands on this new experience and see how it measures up against both modern-day WoW and the original Classic. There's also a toggle between old school visuals and modern graphic, for those who prefer one era over another.