Indeed, we will not hide from you that the Blizzard communities are going through a bad patch, in particular the small world of Overwatch 2, in flames since the PvE mode was officially canceled. In this complicated context, forgetting the 2018 and 2019 editions will be a major challenge: between the (catastrophic) announcement of Diablo Immortal and the flabby apologies from J. Allen Brack on the Hong Kong scandal, Blizzcon has been around for a long time. t was not the scene of a public shipwreck. It will also be a question of making people forget the (very numerous) harassment scandals within the company. These image bumps are of course to be distinguished from the financial results, still in Olympic form. But a convention is made to meet and communicate among hardcore fans, not to cause reports to investors.
The blizzard and the storm
What, exactly, can we expect from BlizzCon 2023? Overwatch 2 should continue on its merry way and will strive to find the good graces of the community. The classic mix of new characters, slick cutscenes and new arenas will surely be there. If there is no Diablo IV on the menu, we eat our hat. World of Warcraft: Dragonflight and Hearthstone will no doubt perpetuate the round of patches while Heroes of the Storm and StarCraft II will continue to rot in the gutter.
No, the big novelty that could create a surprise is of course their enigmatic survival game, started last year. While it’s surely too early to show gameplay, Blizzard could glean a good buzz by being transparent about its progress – provided you don’t curse it, and send it to the grave of abandoned projects (hi, StarCraft: Ghost). Equally hypothetical, a potential re-launch of Warcraft III: Reforged is rumored because of enigmatic polls broadcast by ActiBlizz. Repairing this colossal failure could restore their image, an expensive my culpa, somehow. Finally, we would be surprised not to see Warcraft Arclight Rumble, a new mobile proposal that looks like Clash Royale. And if we get all our guesses wrong, well, you have every right to throw tomatoes at us in public.
Return of the (Lich) King?
During the pandemic and its multiple confinements, Blizzard kept in touch with the remote BlizzConline in 2021. Unfortunately, the 2022 edition was canceled in order to “take a step back and take a break“. Internal crises, it undermines you. We can only hope that the historical publisher-developer finally manages to put its affairs in order and reconnect with the quality of yesteryear with BlizzCon 2023. Please note that the acquisition Microsoft – ActiBlizz should have no impact, since the deadlines are too short to implement it by then.
Blizzard plans to share more practical information in June, just to surf on the release of Diablo IV. In the meantime, if you’re already thinking of heading to California to play around in Arthas cosplay or sample demos of their future projects, hotel reservations are already open. We advise you to hurry, it may go at high speed.
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