BlizzCon 2026 is officially underway, and the opening ceremony brought a wave of announcements spanning nearly every Blizzard universe — from a brand-new StarCraft game to a third way to play World of Warcraft. Here are the highlights straight from Blizzard.
STARCRAFT becomes an open-world game
The biggest surprise of the night: STARCRAFT — all caps, no less — is becoming an open-world shooter set in the Koprulu Sector, targeting a Spring 2030 launch. After more than two decades of the franchise living purely in strategy games, Blizzard summed up the announcement with a wink: “there’s only one thing we can say: it’s about damn time.”
Official reveal trailer for STARCRAFT, the new open-world shooter.
- Spring 2030
is the launch window for the new open-world STARCRAFT.
StarCraft launched in 1998 and helped define esports as we know them today, with StarCraft II expanding that competitive foundation years later. After more than two decades of the franchise living purely in strategy games, seeing it reinvent itself as an open-world game shows just how big Blizzard’s ambitions are for 2030.
StarCraft’s timeline, from 1998 to the new open-world game announcement.
Diablo V confirmed, plus Diablo IV updates for the franchise’s 30th anniversary
Official Diablo V logo, announced at BlizzCon 2026. Image: Blizzard Entertainment.
Diablo V was confirmed for Spring 2029, with a dark premise: Sanctuary has fallen and Diablo has won. Meanwhile, to celebrate the franchise’s 30th anniversary, Diablo IV is getting the “Season of Hell’s Legacy” on September 15, bringing back the Prime Evils and Deckard Cain, and the game is also launching on Nintendo Switch 2 that same day. The game’s first class pack, the javelin-wielding Amazon, arrives in the first half of 2027.
From 1996 to today, Diablo helped cement the isometric hack-and-slash genre and influenced an entire generation of loot-driven games. Thirty years later, the franchise is gearing up for a dark new chapter with Diablo V.
Diablo’s timeline, from 1996 to the Diablo V announcement.
World of Warcraft gets a third way to play
Official World of Warcraft: Forever logo. Image: Blizzard Entertainment.
Alongside Modern and Classic, World of Warcraft: Forever is arriving — a third way to play, set in the Vanilla era, with three new zones, over a thousand new quests, nine new dungeons, two new raids, and a brand-new playable race, the Skyborne. It launches November 4, 2026, with beta starting September 17.
- 1,000+ new quests
are coming with World of Warcraft: Forever, alongside 9 dungeons and 2 new raids.
Warcraft III Reforged gets a brand-new campaign after 23 years
Official artwork for the “Forsaken Kingdom” campaign. Image: Blizzard Entertainment.
For the first time in more than two decades, Warcraft III Reforged is getting a new campaign: “Forsaken Kingdom,” revisiting the fall of Lordaeron and its transformation into the Undercity. It ships alongside the 3.0 update, which includes a major graphics overhaul and a revamped World Editor — and, as a surprise, it’s all available to play right now.
Few franchises carry as much history as Warcraft. It all began in 1994 with the series’ first strategy game, and went through milestones that redefined the genre: Warcraft II cemented RTS as one of the pillars of 90s gaming, Warcraft III brought heroes and a memorable campaign that would go on to help inspire the MOBA genre, and in 2004 the franchise made the leap that would change the industry forever with the launch of World of Warcraft. Watching the universe grow again in 2026 — with a brand-new Warcraft III campaign and a new way to experience the Vanilla era in World of Warcraft: Forever — is a real moment for anyone who’s followed the saga for over three decades.
32 years of Warcraft: from the original RTS to World of Warcraft: Forever.
Overwatch turns 10, Hearthstone announces a new class
Official Overwatch Season 5 key art. Image: Blizzard Entertainment.
Overwatch is celebrating its 10th anniversary and used the moment to announce its newest Support hero, Doctrine (a vampire-inspired, bat-drone-wielding character), reworks for Sombra and Roadhog, and a new map. Hearthstone, meanwhile, confirmed that the Monk class is arriving in March 2027 — the card game’s first new class in six years — alongside the “Reign of the Black Empire” expansion, launching October 20.
Since 2016, Overwatch has helped popularize the hero shooter genre, and the arrival of Season 5 marks a decade of heroes, maps, and events.
Overwatch’s timeline, from 10 years of heroes to Season 5.
Since 2014, Hearthstone has become one of the most-played card games in the world, and the arrival of the Monk in 2027 marks its first new class in six years.
Hearthstone’s timeline, from its 2014 launch to the arrival of the Monk.
Heroes of the Storm wasn’t left out either: Xal’atath becomes the newest playable hero, hitting the PTR on September 14 and the live game on September 28.
Heroes of the Storm celebrates 11 years of the Nexus in 2026, and Xal’atath joins as the latest addition to Blizzard’s multiverse roster of heroes.
Heroes of the Storm’s timeline, from its 2015 launch to Xal’atath.
Blizzard also confirmed a Diablo animated series is in development with Netflix — no release date has been announced yet.
Sources: Blizzard Entertainment
