For those who are able to watch, please follow along live on Twitch or Youtube.
BlizzCon 2026 Opening Ceremony
The opening ceremony has begun with a montage of Blizzard cinematics, including those from various Warcraft expansions, Diablo 4, Hearthstone, and even StarCraft!
Blizzard President Johanna Faries has taken the stage, welcoming everyone home to another BlizzCon, her first at the head of Blizzard Entertainment.
Team Blizzard has been working hard to make this an event to inspire and inform, with the President thanking all of the developers for their hard work and dedication, as well as the fans for their passion. There's a lot to go over this convention, which is near and dear to our hearts...starting with Heroes of the Storm!
Heroes of the Storm
Xal'atath is making her way to Heroes of the Storm! She will be on the PTR this Monday, and officially added to the game later this month.
To all the HotS fans out there, thank you for carrying the torch and caring about this game... stay tuned, because there may be another new hero coming soon!
There are too many stories to tell for just one medium, and Blizzard is more than just games, so they are happy to announce a partnership between Diablo and Netflix, bringing the world of sanctuary to the small screen! This new animated Diablo series is currently in development.
Diablo is just the beginning. Blizzard is also keen on bringing Overwatch, Warcraft, and other universes to television, though they aren't quite ready to share all those details just yet.
Starcraft
Dan Hay has taken the stage. 28 years ago he saw a cinematic that changed his life, leading him to apply to Blizzard and become part of a new universe. That first application was a bust, his dream had to wait while he spent the next 25 years creating other games, until another opportunity arose. Now he is ready to make that dream a reality, an open world shooter where every step is earned. They are here to make STARCRAFT! Because hell... it's about time.
A new cinematic has been revealed for Starcraft: Dominion, showcasing a Dominion recruit's path through training to become a Marine, a montage backed by a speech from Arcturus Mengsk, who players may remember from previous games. Although... we know that in the dark and gritty world of Starcraft, Heroes don't always survive.
Unfortunately, players may have to wait quite a while longer to find out more, as the trailer date reveals that Starcraft is returning in 2030.
Speaking of heroes, Game Director Aaron Keller has now taken the stage to speak about Overwatch. We are now taken to Watchpoint Grimsvotn, a supermax prison facility in Iceland, in a new animated cinematic, which features Reaper, Widowmaker, Sombra, and Doomfist fighting to free... someone.
They've rescued their mystery companion, a suave-looking friend of Doomfist. The ninth hero being added to Overwatch this year is revealed as Doctrine, a vampire armed with a scepter that heals allies and damages enemies. He rushes through battle shrouded in darkness, while his mechanical bats empower allies and swarm enemies. We'll find out more in the deep dive panel coming up, but Doctrine will be available soon in Season 5!
There's a lot in store for Overwatch, including two of the most requested hero reworks ever: Roadhog ability updates and Sombra as a support hero!
Tomorrow on this stage will also be a live Overwatch TTRPG, written by Matt Mercer, in which several heroes play through an original adventure!
Even more peak Overwatch is set to come this February!
Diablo
It's time to celebrate 30 years of Diablo, as we're treated to a mix of video and cinematics from the history of the franchise, and a voice over from Deckard Cain!
Tiffany Wat and Brent Gibson have taken the stage, talking about their history with Diablo, stretching all the way back to playing Diablo and Diablo 2 during their formative years.
The Diablo team loves a good surprise, and started this year by shadow dropping the Paladin at the Game Awards... and this upcoming season we'll see the return of Deckard Cain, as a spirit who will lead us to familiar places and enemies. In celebration of the 30th anniversary, players will encounter Diablo, Mephisto, and Baal, with the opportunity to embrace their powers for yourself. Also there will be cows.
Diablo 4 is also coming to Switch 2 on September 15th alongside the new Season!
Todd McFarland will also be here, in a live panel and drawing session, to talk about Blizzard's new collaboration between Spawn and Diablo on September 29th.
The Amazon class will be coming to Diablo in a special class pack during the first half of 2027! They'll wield bows and their iconic javalin, and fans can get a look at them during the panels this weekend.
There's still more to come though, and we are treated to a look at what's coming next for the world of Diablo in a new cinematic for Diablo V! Sanctuary falls in spring of 2029. The heroes are gone, sanctuary has fallen, and Diablo has won.
For the first time, you won't be fighting to stop Diablo from taking Sanctuary, you'll be joining a world where he already has - there will be no towns or safe havens, at the heart of Diablo V is a simple question: what must you become when the world has already fallen?
Hearthstone
Moving on to Hearthstone, Nathan Lyons-Smith and Brenden Sewell are here to talk about what's coming next to the Tavern.
It's a new expansion, featuring C'thun, Y'Shaarj, N'Zoth and the Titans in the Reign of the Black Empire! For the first time in Hearthstone, we're going tens of thousands of years into the past to the point in which the Old Gods were at the peak of their power. There, we'll experience corruption, madness, and tentacles, alongside an appropriately chaotic new keyword: assemble, which can merge multiple cards. The new expansion will launch in just over a month, on October 20th.
There's also a brand new minion type coming to Battlegrounds: Aberrations! The Hearthstone Journal will also be receiving an overhaul to combine quests with narrative, launching alongside the Black Empire.
2v2 Hearthstone brawls will also be coming, so players can collaborate and compete in matches with a friend!
Finally, Chen Stormstout has arrived on screen in a new animated trailer featuring the celestials of Pandaria, introducing us to the Monk class, coming to Hearthstone in March 2027!
World of Warcraft
And now, Executive Producer and Vice President Holly Longdale has arrived! The Windstalker is ready to light a fire that will burn for decades, starting with a kick-ass year for Warcraft in the World Soul Saga
Senior Game Director Ion Hazzikostas is here to talk about what's happened in Midnight and where the story is headed. We've been hot on Xal'atath's heels, and we're now in the middle of a time-honored interlude (aka Troll Patch), but it's leading us inexorably into what comes next. This has all been a game of chess, a setup for the soon to arrive endgame. From here on out, until the end of the World Soul Saga is all gas, no breaks.
The next major content update for Midnight, Patch 12.2 is titled Eclipse. Xal'atath now stands before her ultimate objective, and it's time for us to confront her directly, which we're getting a glimpse of in a new cinematic, featuring the Harbinger and her army amassed before the World Core itself.
The keeper constructs continue to block her path with a giant gate, but Xal'atath consumes part of her void army to enhance her power and blast open the gate, clearing the way to the World Soul, boldly announcing that everything will be devoured.
We'll find out more in the Warcraft What's Next panel, including new standalone game mode and a peak at the next Remix experience coming next year!
Can't talk too much about The Last Titan without some pretty heavy Midnight spoilers, but the next chapter will bring two decades of Warcraft to a close, while also starting a whole new one. We're treated to a short trailer set in Northrend now, but we'll find out more early next year, once we're on the other side of Eclipse. While this teaser leaves us wanting more, The Last Titan is confirmed for 2027.
Warcraft 3
Holly retakes the stage, announcing that they'll be putting the War back in Warcraft! The Warcraft 3 team has been tinkering and we're treated to another cinematic featuring the undead legions of Forsaken facing off against the Scarlet Crusade!
Forsaken Kingdom is a new campaign in Warcraft 3: Reforged. We'll see Sylvanas leading the undead and experience the fall of Lordaeron before its transformation into the Undercity.
The expansion features over 30 hours of gameplay, including definitive edition graphics, a Forsaken Paladin neutral hero, world editor improvements, enhanced user interface improvements, and more! We'll find out more in two panels later this afternoon, but Warcraft 3: Forsaken Kingdom launches TODAY!
World of Warcraft: Forever
Time to address some rumors, what if we take vanilla and really plus it up? In a new cinematic featuring the Dwarf Hunter and his bear from the original WoW trailer, they move beyond Khaz Modan to see other familiar locations from around Warcraft, including Dalaran uncased from the dome of energy which originally concealed it. Next we see an Undead Paladin wielding the fiery power of the light, before moving to Mount Hyjal and seeing the bones of Archimonde decorating its slopes.
Blizzard Entertainment is proud to present World of Warcraft: Forever! This is Classic+, but we don't have much time to rally our allies and friends... it's coming in just 52 days on November 4th! Beta is even sooner, starting this Thursday, but BlizzCon attendees can play a little early on the show floor.
WoW Forever is your new home, and a world that never ends. It will live alongside the modern and classic teams, featuring the world of Azeroth as its main character. There's no rush here, it's about the journey more so than the destination, easy enough to get in and play but deep enough to stay forever.
Forever features new zones such as Mount Hyjal, the Zephras Isle, the Riverglades, and expanded original zones, as well as new dungeons, new 10 and 20 player raids, new skills and talent trees, new race and class combinations like the Undead Paladin, the SKyborn playable race, and a new battlegrounds in the Darkspear Islands! There are over 1,000 new quests, items, rewards, professions content, more reputations, updated world visuals, and even a toggle between original SD and updated HD graphics!
The story takes place in year 1 of Vanilla WoW, after Warcraft 3: Forgotten Kingdom, but before Molten Core. In Forever, players will experience new stories on the way to level 60... and stay there forever! There will be no racing ahead and leaving old accomplishments behind, but there will still be progression with new stories, game content, experiences, and more. Much more will be revealed in the What's Next panel coming up after the opening ceremony concludes, as well as tomorrow morning's Deep Dive panel.
That concludes the Opening Ceremony for BlizzCon 2026! There's a lot more to discuss and reveal during the upcoming panels though, so stay tuned!
BlizzCon 2026
Warcraft: Forever
WoW: Forever Legacy System
Skyborne and Updated Racials
Main & Secondary Names
WoW: Forever Collector's Edition
Skyborn First Look
Classic Roadmap & Hardcore
Transmog is Optional
Everything We Know About Forever
Skyborn Costs $29.99
Forever: What's Next Liveblog
Undead Paladins in Forever
Classic+ is World of Warcraft Forever
Opening Ceremony Liveblog
The World Soul Saga
Midnight & Last Titan Roadmap
Wrath Remix
Asatalor Season 3 Nemesis
Spec Based Top 5% Mythic+
Final Midnight Raid: The Worldcore
Talebound Patch 12.1.7 Gamemode
Midnight What's Next
Sept 17th Q&A
Season 3 M+ Rotation
Three More Paladin Races Coming
Legendary Caster Dagger
The Last Titan Teaser
Patch 12.2: Eclipse
Decor Login Reward
Other Game Announcements
Diablo Netflix Animated Series
Xal'atath Coming to Heroes of the Storm
Starcraft: Dominion in 2030
New Overwatch Hero: Doctrine
Diablo V in Production
Amazon Coming to Diablo 4
Diablo 4 to Nintendo Switch 2
