Blizzcon 2015: Recap & Impressions

For Blizzard's fans there is no bigger event than Blizzcon. This year more than 26,000 gaming enthusiasts gathered at the Anaheim Convention Center in California. The ninth edition of Blizzcon was full of announcements, informative panels, exciting contests and hands-on time with all Blizzard games and related events.

The opening ceremony for Blizzcon kicked things off on Friday November 6 with thousands of fans cramming into Hall D to catch the biggest announcements live. Blizzard Entertainment CEO Mike Morhaime took the stage first and welcomed everyone to the event, which was followed by all the major news on all the current titles. In case you missed them during the weekend, we have collected all the best info and videos here.

Warcraft (the movie)

The long anticipated Warcraft feature film finally got its first full-sized official trailer. In case you haven't seen it yet, please watch it right now. It was shown at the opening ceremony and received a huge ovation from the crowd. The film looks absolutely amazing and it could very well be next great fantasy film franchise following The Lord of the Rings trilogy. Warcraft will hit the cinemas in May 2016 and we have high hopes.

World of Warcraft: Legion

World of Warcraft's next expansion was announced last August at Gamescom and at Blizzcon we got a huge amount of detail regarding new zones, the Demon Hunter hero class and other features. The main announcements about Legion were the release window, which is now Summer 2016 (September 21 at the latest), while a beta is starting later this year. Blizzard also revealed Legion's pre-order bonus, which grants those willing to pay up in front early access to the Demon Hunter (as soon as the class is ready) and an instant level up to 100 with one character (the new Legion cap is 110).

Overwatch

Blizzard's hottest game at Blizzcom was without a doubt {Overwatch}. The first-person hero team shooter's beta got going a short while ago and at Blizzcon we got to see the three final heroes of the game bringing the total up 21. The final three are Korean pro-gamer in mech suit D.VA, brilliant scientist Mei who comes with a freezing gun, and katana-wielding cyber ninja and Hanzo's rival brother Genji. One new map called Hollywood was also revealed. Like the name implies it's a homage to the Hollywood studio look with iconic landmarks and movie scenery popping up everywhere.

However the biggest announcement was {Overwatch}'s release details. As previously rumoured {Overwatch} will also launch on PlayStation 4 and Xbox One at the same time as it arrives on PC. Unfortunately for Mac players there is no version planned for Apple's home computers. The release is set for spring 2016, while the small print in the trailer revealed it will hit stores no later than June 26.

{Overwatch} will launch in three editions. The base version will be purely digital on PC, and The Origin Edition comes on all platforms with five extra Origin hero skins and several in game digital goodies for other Blizzard games. Finally there's The Collector's Edition that includes all of the above as well as a bronze statue of Soldier 76, the soundtrack, and an art book.

Hearthstone: Heroes of Warcraft

The biggest digital collectible card game in world is getting its third PvE adventure as early as this week! That was a big surprise since most were expecting the next content drop to land in December, at the earliest. The new adventure is called The League of Explorers and it will feature four weekly released wings that players need to tackle in order to score the new cards.

There will be a total of 45 new cards, 27 class specific and 18 neutral. The first wing will launch on the morning of Friday 13 and will cost 700 in game gold or £4.99 (the whole set is priced at £13.99). In addition to the new cards, the brand new content includes two fresh gameboards and a new Discover keyword that lets players pick a card from three choices and presents them with some interesting proactive strategic decisions.

Heroes of the Storm

{Heroes of the Storm} was officially launched this June so Blizzcon was the ideal place to announce upcoming new content in the form of heroes, a battleground, and a game mode. The latter is named Arena and offers players some crazy action with randomised characters on a small map and a single objective.

Four new characters were revealed. The three main additions are Vorgen Lord Greymane, the daughter of Cenarius Lunara, and a two headed ogre Cho'gall. The fourth one is Tracer, the first character coming in from {Overwatch}, but unfortunately no further details were revealed. The other three however should be coming to {Heroes of the Storm} soon.

Cho'Gall is definitely the most interesting and different from all the other characters. It's a single hero that is actually played simultaneously by two players. One player moves the body and performs melee attacks while the other will takes care of ranged attacks and spells. The duo is also not purchasable by normal means. Blizzcon visitors (and those with virtual tickets) get it for free and the only way to unlock it is to win a game with someone who already has Cho'Gall.

Starcraft II: Legacy of the Void

The final chapter of the Starcraft II saga was only few days from the launch at Blizzcon (our review is coming later today, so stay tuned for that) so there wasn't much to be announced at Blizzcon. However, Blizzard did reveal that Legacy of the Void will not be the end of the Starcraft II story. There will be three new DLC mission packs coming next year, the first one (featuring the adventures of Nova) will be available in the spring 2016.

Blizzcon is not your ordinary gaming convention. There are of course huge lines and crowds everywhere, but the event has its own totally unique charm and atmosphere. Even before setting foot on the ground or walking through the front door of the convention centre, it's obvious that Blizzard's fans are among the most passionate and enthusiastic in the world. And that feeling is highly intoxicating. It was really easy to meet up with people and share your thoughts with anyone you met along the way. We had a great time at the Blizzcon even though there really weren't a huge amount of new games and the hands-on time on offer you could mostly get at home. But for any Blizzard fan, Blizzcon is still something we can warmly recommend experiencing at least once.