Warcraft Arclight Rumble Coming To Mobile Later This Year

Later this year, Warcraft players can expect a new mobile game for iOS and Android. Blizzard has unveiled the first trailer for Warcraft Arclight Rumble, a free-to-play single-player strategy game. Players will be able to control collectible Warcraft Minis in order to battle wicked Warcraft commanders in the game.

According to the Google Play store description, users will be able to create armies from five different families: Alliance, Horde, Beast, Undead, and Blackrock. Players can choose to play in single-player mode or compete in PvP combat. Conquest, Dungeons, Raids, and Co-Op will all be available in Arclight Rumble. In total, the game includes over 60 Warcraft Minis and characters, with the option to gain new talents and enhance characters as you progress through the game. The game's website includes even more information, including the ability to pre-register for more information. A release date is unknown at this time.

World of Warcraft: Shadowlands Expansion Coming In 2020

During the BlizzCon 2019 presentation, Blizzard unveiled World of Warcraft: Shadowlands, an expansion coming in 2020.The Shadowlands features five zones: Bastion, Maldraxxus, Ardenweald, Revendreth, and the Maw. The first four are overseen by Covenants corresponding to specific kinds of souls. The Kyrian (Bastian) watch over souls from the mortal realm. The Night Fae (Ardenweald) defend nature spirits. The Necrolords forge undead warriors for the Shadowlands. Players will create a bond with one of the Covenants, completing their campaign and class-specific abilities and more.

The expansion also includes a new leveling system, new appearance options and the ability for pandaren and all allied races to become Death Knights.

World Of Warcraft Classic Launches In Late August

Blizzard has revealed that WOW players will be able to return to the original version of Azeroth as part of WoW Classic on August 27. World of WarCraft Classic takes to back to how things were in the base version of the game, giving longtime players all the nostalgic feels and new players the chance the appreciate all the changes that have come to their MMO of choice in the years since. Classic will roll out at different times depending on your time zone. To see when it'll hit your server, check here. Character creation for the server will roll out before then. You'll be able to make a new character starting August 13. Blizzard is also having a few stress tests for Classic starting next week, with invites rolling out tomorrow. There will be a test on May 22, June 19, and July 18 before launch.

Here’s Details For BlizzCon 2019

Blizzard has announced details for BlizzCon 2019, which takes place at the Anaheim Convention Center on November 1 and 2. Tickets will go on sale in two waves, Saturday, May 4 and Wednesday, May 8.

There's a new Portal Pass, which gives you special access to the Darkmoon Faire area before the con for the "Night at the Faire," preferred parking, lounge access, preferred entrance on Friday and Saturday, and more. The standard BlizzCon Pass includes access to the pregame festivities on Thursday and the return of the BlizzCon Benefit Dinner. The latter gets you into the charity event with Blizzard developers and also includes the Portal Pass perks. For more on the ticket options, click here.

Last but not least, Blizzard is commemorating the 25th anniversary of the Warcraft universe by giving everyone who buys a ticket their choice of a statue collectible, either an orc grunt or a human footman. You can pick one when you purchase your ticket, and pick it up at the show. You can still buy these for a limited time at the Blizzard Gear Store if you can make it to BlizzCon.

Blizzard Announces Classic Servers For World Of Warcraft And Horde Vs. Alliance Expansion

During the Blizzcon 2017 opening ceremony, Blizzard announced a new expansion for World of Warcraft and that they are bringing classic vanilla servers as an option for players. The new expansion titled Battle for Azeroth includes a new continent, Zandalar, along with new dungeons, raids, and uncharted islands. Players are tasked with dominating warfronts and rallying all the allies in the Alliance Vs. Horde war. Check out the Battle for Azeroth overview, and the WoW Classic announcement  below.

Hanzo And Alexstrasza Coming To Heroes Of The Storm

During the Blizzcon 2017 opening ceremony, Blizzard revealed a cinematic that confirms Overwatch's Hanzo and World of Warcraft's Alexstrasza are coming to Heroes of The Storm. Hanzo, obviously serves as an archer who can deal damage from afar." Alexstrasza can heal her team and, when the chips are down, transform into a dragon to really real damage to the rest of the team. Hanzo retains his Overwatch super of the twin dragons, as well, so the field will just be full of so many dragons.

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."

Hearthstone Expansion Knights Of The Frozen Throne Arrives In August

Hearthstone's next expansion will focus on the Lich King Northrend and the Knights of the Frozen Throne. The expansion arrives in August with 135 new cards and free single-player campaign content, complete with legendary rewards. The campaign spans a prologue, 2 wings, 3 bosses, and an epic showdown against the Lich King. Each class can pick up a legendary Hero Card in this set. Cards like this turn your hero into a Death Knight by "taking over" their portrait and giving them access to new abilities, much like Jaraxxus does in the current game.

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.

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.

Blizzard Now Lets Players Use World Of Warcraft Gold To Purchase Loot Boxes In Overwatch

Blizzard has updated World of  Warcrafts Token function so it can be used across all Blizzard games with micro-transactions via users' Battle.net Balance:

The goblins of the Bilgewater Cartel have a golden opportunity for you, friend—introducing a new way to use your WoW® Token. It’s just as easy as ever, but now when you use gold to buy a WoW Token from the Auction House in certain regions, you can to choose whether to convert it into 30 days of game time or Battle.net Balance*. You can use Battle.net Balance to buy services like World of Warcraft character transfers, digital products like pets and mounts, and even purchase in-game items for other supported Blizzard games you play. 

You can find out more details by reading the post here. It's worth noting that since this exchange is linked to a Battle.net balance, YOU CAN ONLY USE THIS FOR THE PC VERSIONS OF BLIZZARD GAMES, not the console versions. Wanna go crazy and use your WOW Tokens on Overwatch loot boxes ? Now’s your chance!

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.

Here Are The Top-Grossing Games For September

Console

1. Destiny

2. FIFA 17

3. Call of Duty: Black Ops 3

4. Grand Theft Auto V

5.  NBA 2K17

6. FIFA 16

7. Star Wars Battlefront

8. Madden NFL 17

9. Forza Horizon 3

10. Overwatch

PC

1. League of Legends

2. World of WarCraft

3. Crossfire

4. Dungeon Fighter Online

5. Overwatch

6. World of Tanks

7. Dota 2

8. Fantasy Westward Journey Online II

9. Maplestory

10. Lineage 1

Mobile

1. Pokemon GO

2. Monster Strike

3. Clash Royale

4. Mobile Strike

5. Game of War: Fire Age

6. Clash of Clans

7. Fantasy Westward Journey

8. Puzzle & Dragons

9. Candy Crush Saga

10. Clash of Kings 

(Source: PVP Live)

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

World Of Warcraft Game Director Moves To New Unknown Project

It appears that World of Warcraft game director Tom Chilton is moving on to a new project. In a recent blog post, Chilton talked about his long career working on World of Warcraft and how, now that Legion is done, he will be moving onto an unknown new project. Assistant game director Ion Hazzikostas will be taking his place as game director for World of Warcraft. "For me, Legion has been more than just another expansion, though—it’s the culmination of more than a decade of work with one of the best development teams I’ve ever had the pleasure to be a part of. And it’s with a mix of excitement, sadness, and gratitude that I’m saying farewell to the WoW team and moving on to a new adventure within Blizzard." Thoughts ?

World of Warcraft Legion Now Has A Companion App

Blizzard has released a companion app for World of Warcraft Legion on iOS and Android, allowing players to work on their class halls and manage their champions on the go. The free app, allows players to manage their timers for champion missions, troop hires, and class hall upgrades, the app also gives players information about what world quests are currently available and the associated rewards. 

Early Access To World Of Warcraft’s Demon Hunter Class Starts August 9

Blizzard has revealed via Twitter early access for the Demon Hunter class in World of Warcraft: Legion would arrive on August 9. This early access offer is exclusive to those that pre-purchase Legion before its release. Those who pre-purchase the expansion will also be able to boost one character up to level 100. You can pre-order the $49.99 standard expansion, or the deluxe for $69.99 here.

Demon Hunter Early Access begins August 9th! Pre-purchase #Legion now: https://t.co/Ay29dlZMt0 pic.twitter.com/uvgS7GGj5M

— World of Warcraft (@Warcraft) July 29, 2016