Blizzard has announced that it will hold a press conference at this year’s GamesCom. But what could they announce? A new WoW expansion? The Overwatch beta?
At least one announcement
Traditionally, Blizzard always reserves the biggest revelations for its own event, BlizzCon, but they must also show presence at GamesCom in Cologne. At numerous stations, Diablo 3, Heroes of the Storm, World of Warcraft, HearthStone and Overwatch can be tested.
But even more awaits fans: Blizzard has announced that it will hold a press conference on August 5 – and why would they do that if they have nothing to announce? And that is exactly the question: What kind of announcement can we expect?
The summer of fakes
As always, when a WoW expansion comes to an end, the “alleged leaks” pop up all over the internet. The idea of “Eye of Azshara” had a brief revival, and a mysterious 4chan user named “Secret” mentioned something about “The Dark Prophet”. Another rumor claimed that Blizzard secured the name “Council of Glades”, but that also turned out to be a fake by a user. In any case, such ideas can generate high attention for a brief moment. But upon closer inspection, they turn out to be fakes: The popular image “Blizzard secured the name!” has already seen several photo-shopped “proofs” of the authenticity of leaks.
So now we know: There is nothing to Eye of Azshara, nor The Dark Prophet, nor other things. Those are at best plausibly sounding fan ideas.
What can we really expect?
If we go through the possibilities, there are only relatively few options left. For World of Warcraft, they could announce the next expansion. This would especially calm those who are now afraid of playing the current WoD patch for over a year – which many have already completely played through. For Overwatch, they could announce the closed beta. This would also work together with the competition that was held in the weeks leading up to GamesCom – as you could win access to the upcoming beta there.
A Diablo 3 expansion would also be conceivable, because Reaper of Souls has been on the market for a while, and the last major updates are also somewhat stale. A few desperate fans are still hoping for the announcement of Warcraft 4, as a continuation of the RTS series has been demanded for a long time.
What do you suspect? What big revelation awaits at GamesCom?
Update: Barely asked, already answered: This is what the press conference of Blizzard will be about.
