The BlizzCon 2026 officially kicked off with a particularly rich Opening Ceremony, during which Blizzard outlined the future of its main franchises. Among unexpected returns and entirely new projects, the announcements covered practically the entire company catalog, from Diablo to StarCraft, through Warcraft, Overwatch, Hearthstone and even Heroes of the Storm.
Probably the biggest surprise concerns StarCraft, finally set to return with a completely new project. Titled simply STARCRAFT, the game will be an open-world shooter set in the Koprulu Sector and will arrive in spring 2030. Blizzard has not yet delved into its structure or gameplay, but it represents a radical shift from the saga’s original strategic roots and, above all, its return to the studio’s core focus after a very long wait.
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No less important is the announcement of Diablo V, due for spring 2029. The new chapter begins from a decidedly unsettling premise: Sanctuary has fallen, the heroes have been defeated, and Diablo has won. Meanwhile, support for Diablo IV will continue, celebrating the series’ 30th anniversary on September 15 with the Season of Hell's Legacy, bringing back the Prime Evils and Deckard Cain alongside rewards and items inspired by the various eras of the saga. In the first half of 2027, a new Class Pack dedicated to the Amazzone will arrive, while Diablo IV will also debut on Nintendo Switch 2 on September 15. The Sanctuary universe will expand beyond video games. Blizzard and Netflix are developing a new animated series set in the world of Diablo, with no plot, release date, or further details yet revealed. The company has, however, hinted that this is merely the first step in a broader strategy to bring its universes to other media.
Big updates also for World of Warcraft. The Eclipse 12.2 update will continue the events of The Worldsoul Saga, with Xal'atath increasingly close to its goal of seizing the Soul of Azeroth, while Blizzard has also offered a first preview of The Last Titan, the final chapter of the saga intended to conclude a narrative arc built over more than two decades of Warcraft. More details about this one will arrive at the start of 2027.
The real surprise on the Warcraft front is World of Warcraft: Forever, which will become a third parallel experience alongside Modern and Classic. The project will return to Azeroth during the Vanilla era, but rather than merely re-presenting the original content, it will explore new possibilities within that world, introducing three new zones, over 1,000 missions, nine dungeons, two raids, and a new race called Skyborne. Beta testing begins on September 17, with launch scheduled for November 4, 2026. Also, Warcraft III: Reforged will receive new narrative content for the first time in over 23 years. The campaign Forsaken Kingdom will take players back to the fall of Lordaeron and its transformation into the Undercity, accompanying update 3.0, which introduces a substantial graphical overhaul, a revamped World Editor, and further improvements. In this case, no waiting is required: the campaign and update are already available.
For the tenth anniversary of Overwatch, Blizzard has instead unveiled Doctrine, a new Support for Season 5 inspired by the vampire figure, capable of draining vital energy from opponents and accompanied by special drone-like bats. The season will also introduce significant reworks for Sombra and Roadhog, the new map Watchpoint: Grimsvötn, and the conclusion of The Reign of Talon, the first annual narrative arc in the game’s history. The next Overwatch Spotlight is already scheduled for February 2027, when Blizzard will present its plans for the rest of the year. BlizzCon will also host QuestWatch, Overwatch’s first official tabletop role-playing game experiment, featuring a one-shot adventure written by Matt Mercer alongside the Narrative Team and Mercer himself in the role of Game Master. On the musical front, YOASOBI will accompany the Overwatch World Cup with the first halftime show in the event’s history, while LE SSERAFIM will return to the stage to close the event and are already protagonists of a new collaboration available in the game.
Important updates also for Hearthstone, starting with the completely redesigned Journal, designed to collect quests, achievements, and events and better link the various expansions. The 20 October will see the arrival of Reign of the Black Empire, an expansion set in ancient Azeroth during the height of the Old Gods and featuring the new keyword Assemble, which will allow players to fuse two cards to create a more powerful one. Battlegrounds will instead receive the new servant type Aberrations on 22 September, while the Monaco will debut in March 2027, the first new playable class added to Hearthstone in the last six years.
Even Heroes of the Storm has returned to the spotlight at BlizzCon. Xal'atath will enter the Nexus as a new hero on 28 September, following his arrival on the PTR on 14 September. Blizzard has also hinted that further surprises may be on the way, a particularly significant signal for a community that has continued to support the MOBA even during years of reduced support.
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The Opening Ceremony of the BlizzCon 2026 has therefore laid out a roadmap spanning several years: in the near term, new content for Diablo IV, Hearthstone, Heroes of the Storm, and Warcraft will arrive, followed by World of Warcraft: Forever on November 4, while in the longer term, attention is inevitably focused on the two heaviest announcements of the event, Diablo V in spring 2029 and the new STARCRAFT in spring 2030. And with the rest of BlizzCon still ongoing, Blizzard has already hinted that further details and news will be revealed during the weekend panels.
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