Overwatch’s Mei Comes To Heroes of the Storm

Blizzard's Heroes of the Storm PTR patch notes have revealed that Mei from Overwatch is coming to the game. Mei can throw blinding snowballs, create blizzards, and slide on ice! With her ultimate ability, she can create a massive rolling snowball to roll up and stun enemy heroes or create a huge ice wall.

Diablo's Deckard Cain Joins Heroes Of The Storm

During Blizzard's PAX East panel, the Heroes of the Storm team announced Deckard Cain from Diablo is coming to the game's ever-growing roster. For more info check out the trailer video below. Deckard will be available sometime later this month.

Mecha Skins Are Coming To Heroes Of The Storm

Blizzard has released a video promoting Heroes of the Storms mecha skins, which looks like it’s straight out of the 90s. The video shows off skins for Diablo's Tyrael, Warcraft's Rehgar, and Starcraft's Abathur. The skins will be available on January 29.

Overwatch’s Ana And Junkrat Join Heroes Of The Storm

Blizzard has announced that both Ana and Junkrat are joining Blizzard's MOBA, Heroes of the Storm. The 2 Overwatch characters are coming alongside the Overwatch stage, Assault on Volskaya Foundry. Blizzard put up a page for the update here, showing off the new stage, new characters, and new skins coming soon. You can check out the cinematic below as you wait for the update, which is coming soon.

Blizzard Is Building Its Own Arena For eSports

Blizzard Entertainment has been a big player in esports for years. But after so many years of simply delving into the esports arena, the company will now build its own. The Blizzard Arena Los Angeles, located in Burbank Studios, will be one of the first arenas in the United States to built specifically with esports events in mind. It will open on October 7, with the start of the Overwatch Contenders Season One playoffs. It will then host the Hearthstone Championship Tour's Summer Championship, the Heroes of the Storm Global Championship, and more tournaments involving Blizzard's own games.

Blizzard Announcing A Bunch Of Things At Gamescom 2017

Blizzard will be at Gamescom next week, and will be announced a bunch a new content for there games at the event. One f those will be a  new Overwatch map and animated short. Thea map will be revealed on Monday, August 21, while the new short will arrive 2 days later during a livestreamed Blizzard Reveal Ceremony on Wednesday, August 23. Here's a full rundown, for everything else Blizzard is bringing to Gamescom:

Hearthstone

• New Fireside Gathering features, including a playable group raid against the Lich King.
• Heathstone's Global Games Finals take place on August 25 and 26.

World of Warcraft

• New details on the upcoming 7.3 patch on Wednesday, August 23.
• WoW European Championship Finals take place throughout the event.

Heroes of the Storm

• A new hero will be announced on Monday, August 21.
• Heroes of the Storm: Showdown will be a live show including fights between community personalities and pros.

StarCraft 2

• New co-op commander will be revealed on Monday, August 21.

Blizzard Launcher Is Back To Battle.Net

Back in March, Blizzard renamed the Battle.net name for its game launcher. The name was switched in favor of the simpler Blizzard launcher, a program that launches Blizzard's games like World of Warcraft and Overwatch. Now Blizzard has changed there mind and it's back to Battle.Net. Blizzard explained in a blog post that they're going to bring the name back because branding is important. The subtext seems to be that no one was actually calling it Blizzard Launcher, including Bungie when they announced that Destiny 2 would use Battle.Net at the game's reveal. Blizzard is trying to bring both names together by renaming the launcher Blizzard Battle.Net with a relaunch in September, just in time for the launch of Destiny 2. Thoughts ? Glad to see Battle.Net back, playing Blizzard games isn’t the same without it. 

Blizzard No Longer Supporting Windows XP Or Vista For Their Games

If you’re a blizzard fan and are still running Windows XP or Vista, then it may be time to upgrade. Blizzard has announced that they will no longer support those operating systems come October, World of Warcraft, StarCraft II, Diablo III, Hearthstone and Heroes of the Storm are the games that will be effected.

"Microsoft ceased mainstream support for these versions of Windows in 2009 and 2012, respectively, but since a decent portion of our audience was still using them at the time, we continued supporting them," the announcement reads. "However, there have been three major Windows releases since Vista, and at this point, the vast majority of our audience has upgraded to one of the newer versions."

More Tickets For BlizzCon To Go On Sale Soon

Blizzard has announced that the Anaheim Convention Center brand-new hall is ready to accept visitors, so the BlizzCon will be expanding and with it the tickets available. So, if you didn't manage to get your hands on any tickets the first 2 days they went on sale, get ready to once more try your luck. On July 5th at 7 PM PT, you can try and grab one of the $199 tickets to attend the 2 day convention on November 3rd and 4th.

Heroes Of The Storm Skins Added To Regular Loot Boxes In Overwatch

According to VG247, players can now find the Officer D.Va and Oni Genji skins in standard loot boxes for the first time. Previously these 2 skins could only be attained by playing Blizzard's free-to-play PC game Heroes of the Storm. You can also buy the skins for 1000 each with in game currency. 

Twitch And Blizzard Announce Partnership For Esports

Twitch and Blizzard Entertainment announced a 2 year worldwide partnership. The deal includes third-party live streaming rights to select Blizzard esports content and special game content for Twitch Prime subscribers. Twitch is acquiring the third-party streaming-platform rights to an assortment of Hearthstone, Heroes of the Storm, World of Warcraft, StarCraft II, and Overwatch esports content. The deal, running through 2018, supports the competitive sphere of Blizzard's esports properties including the following programs:

• Heroes of the Storm Global Championship (HGC)
• StarCraft II World Championship Series (WCS Circuit)
• Hearthstone Championship Tour (HCT)
• Hearthstone Global Games (HGG)
• World of Warcraft Arena Championship
• Overwatch APEX League
• Overwatch Premier Series

Blizzard is providing special in-game loot and deals to Twitch Prime members for Overwatch, Hearthstone, and Heroes of the Storm. Beginning June 20 through August 10, current and new Twitch Prime members will receive a Golden Loot Box for Overwatch, containing one guaranteed legendary item along with 3 other additional in-game emotes, voice lines, or character skins. Players can learn more here. Similar promotions for Heroes of the Storm and Hearthstone players begin later in the year.

You Don't Need To Play Heroes of The Storm For The Special Overwatch Skins

Heroes of the Storm 2.0 rolled out yesterday with a new Nexus challenge that allows players to unlock special skins in Overwatch. Oni Genji and Officer D.Va are both amazing skins, but some players may not own a PC or may to have any desire to play Blizzard's MOBA. For those players, there's hope. Overwatch game director Jeff Kaplan posted on the official forums yesterday addressing the situation, stating that both of these "exclusive" Heroes of the Storm skins would eventually be added to the standard Overwatch loot box. Blizzard and the Overwatch team have been great about listening to the community, it shows how much they care about there players. Good on them.

D.Va Coming To Heroes Of The Storm

Blizzard's Heroes of the Storm 2.0 arrives today and includes a new crate system (similar to Overwatch) and a slew of cosmetics. Also revealed was another familiar face is joining the storm. D.Va is coming to Heroes of the Storm, and you can see her in action in a new teaser trailer below.

Overwatch players may want to start playing Heroes Of The Storm, as those who spend a little time in the game will be able to unlock the Genji Oni skin. Players can also unlock a new D.Va skin via Heroes of the Storm, which is themed to look like a police car. You can see more details on those and other Nexus Challenge 2.0 rewards in the trailer below.

Get 20 Free Heroes In Heroes Of The Storm To Celebrate Version 2.0

To celebrate the launch of Heroes of the Storm 2.0, players will receive enough free gems for logging in to unlock one of four themed mega bundles, each of which containing 20 characters. The bundles are all themed around specific team archetypes, and include Assassin, Flex, Support & Specialist, and Tanks & Bruisers. Players will be able to get in on this sweet deal starting on April 25 and until May 22. You can get a look at all the bundles, as well as more details on the 2.0 update here.

Overwatch’s Genji Is Coming To Heroes Of The Storm

Blizzard has announced that Overwatch's Genji has been added to the Heroes of the Storm 2.0 beta. He’s not coming along as the map Hanamura is coming to the game as a payload battleground. Genji's Swift Strike, Shuriken, Dragonblade, and Deflect abilities come with him, as does a new heroic ability called X-Strike. This is a slash attack that detonates in an area for additional damage. The Hanamura payload battleground features a payload that must be pushed across the map in order to release dragons to damage the enemy's core. Genji and Hanamura will be apart of Heroes of the Storm's 2.0 update on April 25.

Harness the power of the Genji and vie for control of his ancestral home - Hanamura. Both hitting the Heroes 2.0 Beta TODAY! pic.twitter.com/HOh4XS3u3M

— Heroes of the Storm (@BlizzHeroes) April 17, 2017

Blizzard No Longer Supporting PC’s Running Windows XP And Vista

Blizzard has announced that they are ending support for both Windows XP and Windows Vista across Diablo III, Hearthstone, Heroes of the Storm, StarCraft II and World of Warcraft. This will be a "staggered process," but it's a hard cutoff once a given title loses support -- it won't run until you upgrade. While there is "decent" number of people running XP and Vista when Microsoft ended support for those OS’, that's no longer the case. The "vast majority" of players have moved on to newer Windows releases, Blizzard says. As Ars Technica points out, the move may well be linked to the internet connection requirement for these titles. Thoughts ?

Overwatch's Lúcio Drops The Beat In Heroes Of The Storm

Overwatch’s Lúcio is now dropping the beat in Blizzard's competitive online brawler, Heroes of the Storm. As a support character, Lúcio boostes his teammates' powers and increase their chances of defeating enemy heroes. Lúcio has abilities, such as rollerblading along terrain, shielding allies, and blasting enemies with sound waves, featured in the reveal trailer below.

Blizzard Celebrating Diablo’s 20th Anniversary Across All Of There Games

Blizzard's Diablo series celebrates its 20th anniversary this year. To mark the occasion, Blizzard is holding in-game events across all of there games. Here is a full rundown of what's happening in Blizzard's games "soon" to celebrate Diablo's 20th anniversary, with descriptions written by Blizzard:

Diablo III

• Recapture the feeling of your first play through of the original Diablo with The Darkening of Tristram tribute event. Venture through a reimagined version of the original cathedral in Diablo III and keep an eye out for some familiar items.

Heroes of the Storm

• The battle for the High Heavens continues, and a new Diablo-themed portrait is up for grabs! Can you emerge victorious on this hectic new brawl map?

Hearthstone

• In this Tavern Brawl, a hooded stranger awaits, holding a grim deck in his hands. Will you unravel the secrets surrounding this dark wanderer?

Overwatch

• Bring the battle for Sanctuary into the fight for the future with in-game sprays representing your favorite Diablo III classes--along with a new player icon modeled after the Lord of Terror!

StarCraft II

• Put the Lord of Terror to work for you with a Diablo-themed worker portrait.

World of Warcraft

• Strange things are afoot in the world of Azeroth as denizens of Sanctuary cross over into an unfamiliar world.

Blizzard Launches Blizzard Voice, Its Own Cross-Game Voice Chat

Blizzard revealed has rolled out Blizzard Voice, a chat service that works across all its multiplayer titles. The system lets you talk to friends or friends of friends inside or outside of games, as long as you have the Blizzard Launcher open. The company promises "high quality voice audio and superior stability," full customization, and the ability to "individually mute and change player volume." Thoughts ? Better late then never I guess. 

Blizzard Voice has arrived! Be sure to update your Blizzard Launcher before trying to give it a go 🗣 pic.twitter.com/P3T2lEMVWM

— Blizzard Ent (@Blizzard_Ent) October 20, 2016

Overwatch’s Zarya Is Now A Heroes Of The Storm Hero

Overwatch’s Zarya is now available as a hero in Heroes of the Storm. Blizzard's MOBA has a new patch, which brings in Zarya as well as a new map called Warhead Junction to the game. Similar to here abilities in Ovewatch, Zarya's basic abilities include launching a particle grenade, gaining a personal shield, and granting an ally a brief shield. Her heroic abilities launches a bomb which draws enemies towards the center for 2.5 seconds. Her other heroic ability is an expulsion zone bomb, which knocks back enemies and slows their movement speed. Don’t forget to check out the full patch notes.