Diablo 4, WoW: Shadowlands, Overwatch 2: what was shown at BlizzCon 2019

No specific release date has been announced.

Yesterday, November 1, at 20:00 Kyiv time, Blizzard's annual gaming presentation, BlizzCon 2019, began. On the first day alone, Blizzard announced many major new releases that TK Media is ready to tell you about in detail.

Diablo 4

The company officially announced Diablo 4 with its first cinematic trailer. In 9 minutes, Blizzard told the story “Three of Them Will Come”, about treasure and knowledge seekers who, at the cost of their own lives, resurrected the game's main antagonist, Diablo in the form of Lilith, daughter of Mephisto.

The plot of the fourth installment will unfold many years after the events of Diablo 3. During the war between Heaven and the Burning Hells, millions of people died, and the old powers lost their might. Heaven has closed its doors, and Sanctuary is going through hard times.

Following the trailer, a gameplay video for Diablo 4 was also shown. The first 3 playable classes are Barbarian, Sorcerer and Druid. The Druid can transform into animals and summon them. There will be 5 classes in total, with customization options (skin and hair color, tattoos and more). Mounts can also be customized.

Rumors about an online system similar to Destiny and PvP zones were also confirmed. Developers promise individualization through a flexible talent system, a nonlinear storyline, weather effects with day and night cycles, and social hubs in cities. Game director: Luis Barriga.

Diablo 4 will be released on PC, PS4 and Xbox One, but no release date has been named yet. Given the announcement for current-generation consoles, it can be assumed the game will come out before the end of 2020, when next-generation consoles are expected to launch.

BlizzCon 2019 attendees will be able to try the Diablo 4 gameplay demo. The presentation ended with the words “see you in hell.”

Diablo Immortal

Blizzard also presented a 2.5-minute trailer for the latest version of the mobile game Diablo Immortal and shared details of its storyline.

The main character has allied with the remnants of the Horadrim to stop the enemies of Sanctuary from seizing and controlling the World Stone. The trailer also showed the classes and their abilities.

Visually, the game strongly resembles Diablo 3. The company promised to regularly add new content to Immortal (dungeons, bosses, zones, stories) and to keep microtransactions as reasonable as possible.

The release date for Diablo Immortal has not yet been announced.

World of Warcraft: Shadowlands

Blizzard announced a new expansion for World of Warcraft called Shadowlands, with a full release planned for the second half of 2020.

As the announcement, the company released a cinematic in which one of the main antagonists of the current expansion, former Undead leader Sylvanas Windrunner, arrives at the Icecrown Citadel and fights the current Lich King, Bolvar Fordragon.

The cinematic ends with Sylvanas's victory, after which she takes the Lich King's crown off Bolvar and breaks it, opening a portal to the Shadowlands, where the events of the new expansion will take place.

The story of WoW: Shadowlands will tie all events of the current expansion, Battle for Azeroth, to the previous ones, filling gaps in the lore of the game universe. In the new expansion, players will explore the alternate world of the Shadowlands, face new enemies and allies, explore new zones, dungeons and raids, and restore the balance between life and death.

There are few details so far, only that there will be a Death Knight class for Pandaren and Allied Races. Blizzard is expected to share more today, November 2, from 19:00 to 21:00 Kyiv time.

World of Warcraft: Shadowlands is already available for pre-order in 3 editions:

• Base Edition (1699 RUB ~ 680 UAH): the expansion and early access to the Death Knight class for Pandaren and Allied Races after the release of patch 8.3;
• Heroic Edition (2349 RUB ~ 940 UAH): Base + instant level boost to 120 + enchanted Eternal Serpent (mount) + access to the quest chain for a transmogrification set;
• Epic Edition (2999 RUB ~ 1200 UAH): Heroic + 30 days of subscription + Anima Serpentling (pet) + Recall Stone effect + weapon illusion.

Overwatch 2

Blizzard announced Overwatch 2, which had been the subject of many rumors online ahead of the show. Most of them were confirmed.

According to the plot of the video “Point of Origin”, Winston, Mei and Tracer set out on a mission to save Paris from robots. There they suffer defeat, but other heroes come to their aid, including Genji, Echo, Brigitte, Reinhardt and Mercy. At the end of the video, it is announced that Overwatch has returned.

Overwatch 2 will feature updated graphics and add story co-op missions against the Null Sector and missions against Talon with replay, as well as new enemy factions and maps of Toronto, Monte Carlo, Gothenburg, Rio de Janeiro (twice the size of the largest map from the first game) and others.

The game will also feature a new main mode, “Push”, in multiplayer (played in the League): at the start of the match, a robot is placed in the center of the battlefield, which each team must capture and carry to the enemy base. The winner will be the team that advances deeper into enemy territory or pushes the robot all the way to the end.

Players from different versions of Overwatch will be able to fight each other in PvP.

Hearthstone

Blizzard unveiled a trailer for the large expansion “Rise of the Dragons” for the Hearthstone card game. 

In the story, one of the most powerful dragons in the Warcraft universe, Galakrond, has awakened, and he is hungry. Heroes of the League of Explorers will battle villains from the League of Evil in the skies.

“Rise of the Dragons” will be released no later than December 10. Pre-orders are already available in 2 editions:

• Standard (2799 RUB ~ 1120 UAH): expansion + 60 card packs;
• Mega (4399 RUB ~ 1760 UAH): expansion + 100 card packs + hero.

The extended version of the new expansion's trailer also features Alec Dawson, who talks in more detail about “Rise of the Dragons.”