LoadingXP’s BlizzCon 2018 Predictions

BlizzCon is the most joyous event of the year for Blizzard fans. While it is a great place to mingle with fellow gamers, watch eSports tournaments, and get the latest development updates for all of the studio’s games, a big draw for many is the event’s opening ceremony, which is when major announcements typically take place. It is broadcast to every stage for attendees at the Anaheim Convention Center, but those at home will also be able to tune in for free on the BlizzCon website, YouTube, and Twitch. The opening ceremony will start at 11am PDT on Friday, November 2nd, and will last roughly an hour.

Which brings us to the question: What announcements can we expect from this year’s opening ceremony? I have some predictions for all of Blizzard’s current projects, as well as some older ones.

World of Warcraft Won’t See Any Major Surprises

We’re still very early in the life cycle for World of Warcraft: Battle for Azeroth, so it’s pretty safe to assume that the MMO’s presence at BlizzCon will be fairly standard. Blizzard will likely focus on the first major content patch, Tides of Vengeance, which was announced in mid-September. Patch 8.1 will add two new raids and slew of other content, but it will also focus on addressing the game’s current issues, such as the Azerite armor system. All aspects of the patch will be covered in detail, and we’ll probably get a rough idea of when it will be deployed to live servers. We may even get details on the patch that will come after that.

World of Warcraft Classic will also be a big focus. Blizzard announced that it was developing an official way to play the game as it existed in its early days at last year’s BlizzCon, but there’s still a lot that we don’t know. It will be based off of patch 1.12, but it’s not clear how exact the recreation will be. Will it include any of the improvements that the game has received over the past 14 years? What will the subscription model look like? Blizzard is sure to answer most(if not all) of our questions, and while they’re doing so, BlizzCon attendees and Virtual Ticket holders will have a chance to try a small demo of the game for themselves.

Don’t Expect Much from StarCraft

This pains me as StarCraft is my absolute favorite Blizzard franchise, but it’s not in a very active state right now. Blizzard ended the StarCraft II saga with Legacy of the Void in 2015, and the game’s first campaign and competitive multiplayer went free to play last year. 2017 also saw the release of StarCraft Remastered, but that won’t be seeing any new content. A hardcore contingent is still playing these games online, but a lot of casual players have fallen off the wagon. We could see a new co-op commander and balance changes for StarCraft II, but beyond that, we won’t see much.

Overwatch Will Get a New Hero

Overwatch is still a juggernaut in the online shooter sphere, and Blizzard has done a great job in keeping players engaged with constant updates. While Game Director Jeff Kaplan announced that we won’t see a new map for the game at BlizzCon, we will most definitely get a new hero reveal. Wrecking Ball became the game’s newest tank in July, and we got two support heroes before that with Brigitte and Moira, so we’ll probably get a new offensive character this time. The last damage dealer that was added to the game was Doomfist, and that was over a year ago.

We’ll also get details on the remaining six teams that are being added to the Overwatch League. The past couple of weeks have seen the reveals of the Atlanta Reign and Toronto Defiant’s team names, logos, and colors, and the teams for Guangzhou, Chengdu, Hangzhou, Paris, Vancouver, and Washington, D.C. will receive the same treatment at BlizzCon.

Hearthstone’s Last 2018 Expansion Will be Revealed

In its current form, Hearthstone is getting three expansions a year. 2018 has seen the release of The Witchwood and The Boomsday Project, so we’re sure to see this year’s final expansion at BlizzCon. It will also get a release date, since there isn’t much time left in the game’s Year of the Raven. Blizzard also wants to improve the game’s social experience, so it’s possible that we’ll some of the progress that the studio has made on that front.

One thing that we won’t see, however, is the lovable Ben Brode. Hearthstone’s former game director left Blizzard in April to start Second Dinner, a new game studio where he serves as chief creative officer.

Warcraft III Gets the Remaster Treatment

RTS fans have been asking for this for years, and I think we’ll finally get it. Warcraft III was a very popular release for Blizzard, and it is remembered fondly for its four distinct playable races and unique hero unit feature. The game still receives patches even though it was originally released in 2002, with the last update being released earlier this year. Warcraft III has 3D graphics, so giving the game an updated presentation and Battle.net functionality probably wouldn’t be as challenging as it was for StarCraft Remastered, which featured completely redrawn 2D sprites.

Two Heroes Will be Announced for Heroes of the Storm

Blizzard has announced multiple heroes for Heroes of the Storm at the past few BlizzCons and this year will be no exception. What’s harder to predict, however, is what heroes will be announced. The game currently has 83 heroes and the vast majority of Blizzard’s most recognizable characters have already been added to the game. Will the studio go a little more obscure and reveal Blackthorne, the protagonist of its 1994 SNES action platformer of the same name? We’ll have to wait and see.

We’ll Get Diablo…Something

Up until earlier this month I was convinced that the next Diablo game would be announced at BlizzCon. Blizzard revealed in August that it “had multiple Diablo projects in the works,” and a “Diablo: What’s Next” panel is taking place on the BlizzCon main stage immediately after the opening ceremony. Many fans of the action RPG series were pointing to the same bits of possible evidence, but a couple of weeks ago, Blizzard tempered everyone’s expectations with a post on the Diablo III website. It reconfirmed that multiple Diablo projects are in development, but they will be shown “when the time is right.” It went on to explain that not all of the projects will be announced at BlizzCon, but some “Diablo-related news” will be announced.

So what’s in store for Diablo fans, then? It’s hard to say. We may see the announcement for a Diablo II remaster, which has been rumored for a while. There have also been calls for Diablo to be updated as well, but in my humble opinion, it doesn’t hold up nearly as well as its sequel. The supposedly leaked Netflix series could also make an appearance, but if that’s all we got, it would be a bit disappointing for series fans who are expecting some kind of game announcement.

All Eyes on the Opening Ceremony

Blizzard fans will be watching BlizzCon’s opening ceremony, which is now less than a week away, with bated breath. It’s going to look a little different this year without Mike Morhaime running the show, as he recently stepped down as president of the studio. His successor, J. Allen Brack, said that “a few surprises” are in store, so we’ll see soon enough if any of my predictions are accurate. I could also be completely off the mark, which could be just as exciting, depending on what ultimately gets announced on Friday.