BlizzCon 2026 Recap: WoW: Forever, Diablo Netflix Series & More!
BlizzCon 2026 announcements gave fans a lot to unpack this weekend. Diablo V is officially coming in 2029, StarCraft is returning as an open-world shooter, and the long-requested “Classic+” is becoming World of Warcraft: Forever. Even Warcraft III and Heroes of the Storm, which have gone years without major new content, received updates, and that only scratches the surface of what Blizzard had to show.
Diablo
Diablo V’s Spring 2029 release was officially confirmed during the opening ceremony. This time, players enter a version of Sanctuary where Diablo has already won, and its heroes have already lost.
The “Diablo V: Forging the Next Era” panel, led by Blizzard president Johanna Faries, offered some early details about the game. Three classes have been confirmed so far, with the Demon Hunter and Monk returning alongside a new class called the Plague Knight. Blizzard also teased procedurally generated dungeons to make them less predictable, a loot system inspired by Diablo II, and a faction system centered on regional “Dread Commanders.”
Blizzard also confirmed that a Diablo animated series is in development with Netflix, though no plot details, cast, or release window were announced.
Diablo IV received several updates of its own. The Amazon class pack is planned for 2027, while a new Season of Hell’s Legacy is also on the way. The Diablo IV: Age of Hatred Collection will arrive on Nintendo Switch 2 on September 15. Blizzard has said Diablo IV will not receive additional full expansions, but there is still “a lot of room” for more storytelling before Diablo V arrives.
StarCraft
After years without a new mainline StarCraft release, Blizzard confirmed that another game is in active development. Rather than returning to the series’ traditional real-time strategy format, the new project is an open-world shooter.
Its reveal cinematic showed Dominion recruits training for combat before facing the Zerg, though Blizzard did not show gameplay on stage. The game is targeting a 2030 release and is planned for both PC and consoles.
Details remained limited throughout the weekend. BlizzCon’s schedule did not include a dedicated panel for the new game, while StarCraft II and StarCraft: Remastered appeared through the Classic Cup competitive matches.
World of Warcraft: Forever
World of Warcraft: Forever is Blizzard’s answer to the long-requested “Classic+” concept. Instead of moving WoW Classic through the expansions that eventually led to modern retail WoW, Forever creates an alternate path that keeps the foundations of the original game while building new content around them.
Rather than following the same expansion timeline that eventually led to retail WoW, Forever asks what Classic could have become if Blizzard had decided to take a different route through the endless possibilities. The level cap will remain at 60, but the game will introduce plenty of new content, including areas such as Mount Hyjal and the Riverglades, more than 1,000 new quests, two new raids, nine new dungeons, and the Skyborne as a playable race, which can be unlocked for $30. WoW: Forever launches November 4, 2026, with beta access beginning September 17.
World of Warcraft: Midnight
WoW: Forever may have taken much of the attention, but Blizzard also had plenty to share about the current expansion, Midnight. Lead content designer Jake Miller and associate game director Paul Kubit hosted a dedicated “What’s Next” panel, starting with content update 12.1.5, which is already live on the PTR and adds a mini raid alongside other new content.
The panel then shifted to Talebound, a new PvE action-RPG mode coming with the Echoes of the Worldcore update. Players are drawn into a series of macabre stories told by a mysterious figure known as the Storyteller, with each one unfolding through themed levels filled with enemies, bosses, and puzzles. These runs can be played solo or with friends, where players collect relics and rewards before returning to Quillgrave, a home base village that serves as the hub between runs.
Blizzard also laid out what comes next for Midnight’s main story. Patch 12.2: Eclipse, first revealed during the Opening Ceremony by game director Ion Hazzikostas, will put players directly against Xal’atath as she closes in on the Worldsoul within the worldcore. More details about The Last Titan, including the return to Northrend, are expected in early 2027 after the events of Eclipse. Blizzard also touched on Midnight Season 3, housing updates, and other content planned before the expansion comes to an end.
Warcraft III
Warcraft III: Reforged also got something fans have not seen in more than two decades: a new campaign. Blizzard shadow-dropped Forsaken Kingdom during BlizzCon, with Brad Chan, senior manager of the RTS/RPG group and project lead, introducing it on stage. Attendees could play it immediately on the show floor.
Forsaken Kingdom follows the fall of Lordaeron and its transformation into the Undercity, introducing new characters alongside familiar faces such as Sylvanas. The story explores what it means to become Forsaken while expanding on a pivotal period in Warcraft history. Blizzard also revealed Definitive Edition graphics updates and a new playable Forsaken Paladin.
Overwatch
Overwatch celebrated its 10th anniversary at BlizzCon with the reveal of Doctrine, a vampire-inspired Support hero who fights alongside bat-like drones that can heal allies and boost their attack speed. Doctrine is playable at BlizzCon and will also be available through a limited at-home trial. The anniversary announcements continued with major reworks for Sombra and Roadhog, as well as a new map called Watchpoint: Grimsvötn.
Hearthstone
Hearthstone had several announcements across the Opening Ceremony and its dedicated “What’s Next” panel, led by the reveal of the Monk, the game’s first new class since the Death Knight arrived in 2022. The Monk is expected to arrive in March 2027, with its Hero Power and card kit still under wraps.
Before then, Hearthstone will get a new expansion called Reign of the Black Empire on October 20. Set 10,000 years in the past during a conflict between the Old Gods and the Titans, the expansion adds Aberration cards, which let players sacrifice three cards to summon an Old God, and Assemble, a new mechanic that lets players combine abilities from two different cards. Battlegrounds will also get Aberration minions, while the Journal is being redesigned to bring quests, achievements, and past events into one place.
Blizzard also revealed a 2v2 mode that will debut as a two-week Tavern Brawl, starting with preconstructed decks before switching to player-built decks in the second week. Another Tavern Brawl, Hearthstone Warchief, is planned for later and will revolve around 99-card singleton decks and a Hero Power that summons a Warchief card.
Heroes of the Storm
Heroes of the Storm is getting its first new hero in nearly six years. Xal’atath, the Harbinger of the Void and the major antagonist in the current WoW expansion, is joining the Nexus as a ranged assassin.
Xal’atath is playable at BlizzCon and will arrive on the public test realm on September 14, followed by a full release on September 28. Blizzard also confirmed that at least one more hero is already in development. This could mean more new content is on the way after years of Heroes of the Storm getting mostly balance updates and bug fixes.
For more articles like this, check out our Tech News page!