Here is a short summary of announcements in BlizzCon:
New Hero Xalatath added to Heroes of the Storm: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4kMhUVz4q5I
Diablo Netflix series. (More in works/plans)
StarCraft Dominion: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9eQUtOQXYgQ
Overwatch new hero Doctrine:https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=h5dwH7nx9do
Diablo 5: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GxCN_AKYtts
Heartstone new expansion Reign of the Black Empire Cinematic: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=imZ4rqFbHFc
Heartstone new class Monk: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nY2_pygsg1k
Next part of World Soul saga World of Warcraft: Eclipse:https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tlJZzTcHrH0
Next WoW expansion. World of Warcraft: The Last Titan: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=F9Xb5PhF5pc
“Wow: Classic+”, World of Warcraft: Forever: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uQuKE0KDgiM
Warcraft 3 DLC, Warcraft III Reforged: Forsaken Kingdom: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=I1kXClUCyuA
It’s interesting to see Microsoft invest so heavily into Blizzard; I can’t recall a time that they ever unveiled such an ambitious suite of announcements.
They’re revisiting/reviving three otherwise abandoned titles (HOTS, SC, WC3:R), working on a new Diablo, wrapping up the World Soul Saga AND working on their own Classic+ in Forever.
It’s great now, but I do worry about if/when the other shoe drops and Microsoft begins to demand seeing a massive ROI on their investment - there were stories of needing a 30%+ profit from their Xbox division to too long ago.
Warcraft is notoriously low margin by present-day live service standards, but it sure looks like they are getting there: the new race comes with $30 price tag and beta access is only in the $60 or $80 tiers.
Wild prices considering a product heavily built on top of existing assets.
If anyone can deliver those insane profits on a consistent basis, I’m betting on Blizzard currently. Basically all of their major games are live service and print money. That probably still won’t fully save them from the next round of Microsoft layoffs, but they might no get hit as hard.
Just some minor notes, Dominion is just the name of the cinematic, the game doesn’t have an announced name yet (unless they’re calling it just Starcraft, which would be weird).
The Last Titan expansion wasn’t revealed for the first time here. I think during the last Blizzcon a few years ago, when the World Soul Saga was announced, they went through the three expansions, their names, some overall themes, so you might find a bit more info in those videos, if you’re interested.
WoW Forever is…interesting. Definitely not for me, but curious to see where it goes.
It seems like a tacit acknowledgement that the modern game has been a series of missteps, so they’re going back to basics and starting over. Just a big redo with different decisions and lessons learned.
I just can’t help but look back on the “You think you do, but you don’t” statement about classic WoW, and now they’re basically putting their entire future into it.
I don’t think retail was a misstep when it comes to milking whales, it’s just not a compelling MMO. So to them, it’s remained a massive success.
I’m also curious about WoW: Forever, mostly because I’ve been hopeful that any studio would see the hype around classic wow and realize there is demand for the old format of MMOs; back before all modern conveniences were added to remove any friction between players. I’ve longed for an experience akin to vanilla, but completely new and unsolved and populated by people who just want to experience organic player interaction.
Ideally you want a game that can both milk whales and isn’t hemorrhaging players nonstop. Maybe the whales keep paying, but there’s a reason they stopped publishing subscriber counts about 10 years ago.
It’s not that weird of a concept I think, RuneScape has been doing it for ages. There’s Runescape 3, and Old School Runescape which is getting new updates and content to match the old style. I’m not surprised WoW is going for that considering how much nostalgia people have for the old game.
New Warcraft 3 expansion with a big new update was so unexpected, but has me very excited to redownload it.
Has Reforged been fixed since its release? Last I heard, it was leagues behind original WC3
They did a big 2.0 update that fixed most of the issues, including letting you play with proper classic graphics. There might still be some changes WC3 fans don’t like but I think it’s a solid remake now.
Really excited for new heroes for Overwatch and HotS. Already tried Doctrine out and he might be my new favourite support.
