It has been a long time since MeinMMO editor Karsten Scholz has felt such excitement for a BlizzCon. We might be expecting the most exciting Blizzard event since the announcement of Overwatch.
Thanks to Warcraft 3 and World of Warcraft – two of the best games of all time in my opinion – I was a long-time Blizzard fanboy. In particular, the MMORPG has greatly influenced and shaped my life – without WoW, I wouldn’t be writing to you now.
I played through the StarCraft 2 trilogy with great joy. The Diablo series and Hearthstone have consumed many hours. I even found some enjoyment in Heroes of the Storm, though MOBAs are not really my genre.
Due to this enthusiasm for Blizzard, BlizzCon was for a long time my absolute event highlight of every gaming year. The Californian trade fair always promised exciting news and announcements about my favorite games and universes.
But Blizzard changed. Due to the incredible success of WoW, the milestone forge turned into a mega-corporation. The focus increasingly shifted to service instead of story quality. There were historical sexism scandals. Immortal gate. Warcraft 3: Refunded. The Blitzchung incident. The rather mixed WoW expansions Battle for Azeroth and Shadowlands. Several leadership changes. The acquisition by Microsoft.
Enough reasons for Blizzard to continually cancel BlizzCon in the 2020s. And more than enough reasons for me to view Blizzard with much cooler distance (even if, for example, I still enjoy playing WoW).
What will be different in 2026?
But now the exciting anticipation of the upcoming BlizzCon is back. Why? Well, because it could be as exciting as it hasn’t been for a long time. That’s at least what numerous unofficial, but also official hints and suggestions promise. Here’s a selection:
- A first official hint for a proper WoW Classic Plus came in early 2026 when WoW head Holly Longdale promised a huge announcement for later in the year. Various other observations supported this, until eventually even supposed leaks about a WoW Camelot or WoW Forever came to light. In short: Something is definitely brewing! Classic fans can look forward to something big.
- We are in the middle of the three-part “Worldsoul” saga, which is significantly more fun than Battle for Azeroth or Shadowlands and is hopefully setting up for a big finale with “The Last Titan.” This final chapter could first have a (probably still small, but) concrete preview at BlizzCon.
- For WoW, Blizzard has planned correspondingly many WoW panels on Saturday and Sunday. But what is that gap between 9:45 PM and 10:45 PM? According to the current schedule, nothing is taking place on the main stage then. THAT would be very unusual. Could we expect one of the rare announcements of a new Blizzard game? This leads us to the next point:
- There are indications that the much-too-long-ignored StarCraft franchise could be looking forward to a surprising announcement. Rumors about a shooter for the franchise have been around for many years. It would be the first new StarCraft game since Legacy of the Void from 2015.
Blizzard’s interpretation of WoW Classic Plus, more about the finale of the Worldsoul saga, a new game for StarCraft – if all of this comes true, we can expect the most exciting BlizzCon since the Overwatch announcement at BlizzCon 2014 (presentation of the first new Blizzard brand since StarCraft in 1998). This could be historic.
Will the next step for WoW Classic occur at BlizzCon 2026? The introduction of Hardcore was already an important milestone.
The Shadow of Diablo Immortal
My anticipation for the upcoming BlizzCon would be even greater if I didn’t remember 2018 so well. Back then, the Diablo team had been building hype for months around a major announcement for the diabolical cult series, only to announce Diablo Immortal, the mobile version, instead of Diablo 4 at the climactic end of the opening ceremony.
This fail was garnished by the clumsy reactions of various Blizzard officials, who were caught off guard by the significant displeasure of their fans. Wyatt Cheng’s “Do you guys not have phones?” has become as much of a meme as the audience question, “Is this an out-of-season April Fools’ joke?” during the Q&A session. Immortalgate was born.
I really hope that Blizzard has learned from this incident. If they promise a major announcement for WoW Classic at the beginning of the year and then come out with another Classic season, the disappointment would be great. The same applies if the hint about a new StarCraft game turns out to be a new mobile adaptation that interests no one here in the West.
From my perspective, the upcoming BlizzCon is not only the most exciting one in years. It also has the potential to rank alongside Immortalgate and Warcraft 3 Refunded as one of the biggest disappointments in Blizzard history. Or do you see it differently? Feel free to tell me what you hope for from BlizzCon, what you fear, and where you see the greatest opportunities!
Blizzard really can’t afford a second Immortalgate right now. Just recently, the Blizzard president praised her team while, almost everywhere else in the gaming sector, Microsoft has been conducting extensive layoffs. Further job cuts are expected at Xbox in the coming months. Accordingly, they surely want to continue to present themselves in the best light: Blizzard is the best Xbox still has – Praise from the boss
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