Blizzard's big show is just around the corner. BlizzCon 2017 is happening this weekend, kicking off with the opening ceremony Friday, November 3 and running through Saturday, November 4. Be sure to stick with IGN for all the news, previews, interviews and panel coverage coming out of the big show. Of course you can keep up-to-date with everything happening on IGN's BlizzCon hub page.
Here's what we expect to see, hope to play, and want to learn more about from BlizzCon 2017:
Overwatch has been tight-lipped in terms of leaks or teases going into BlizzCon, but the timeline matches up for an announcement of its 26th hero. If that happens, they will likely be playable on the show floor and launch officially later this month.
While there haven’t been drawn out teases like with Sombra or Doomfist this time around, Blizzard has been releasing new heroes every four months like clockwork: Ana came out in July 2016, followed by Sombra in November, then Orisa in March 2017, and back to July for Doomfist. That makes November, and BlizzCon, the logical time for the next announcement.
Back in September, game director Jeff Kaplan told us that Overwatch’s 26th hero was “very playable,” but may not be coming as soon as we think. It’s been nearly two months since then, so ‘soon’ may have passed by now - or Kaplan could have been referring to the previous pace of heroes, which would mean 26 is still a ways off.
It’s also not totally unlikely that we’ll see a new map or gamemode, and some of the Overwatch panels could give us a glimpse at what’s in store for the recently announced punishment and reporting overhaul that’s coming.
We know what we’ll be getting from Hearthstone at this year’s BlizzCon, we just don’t know all the details. It’s been confirmed by Blizzard that the CCG’s next expansion will be announced during the opening ceremony, but there isn’t much indication of what the theme will be yet.
The most concrete thing we have to go on is the name and art of one of the upcoming legendary cards, Marin the Fox, as it was announced that all attendees and Virtual Ticket holders will get a golden version of the card.
If we had to speculate, Marin’s pirate-y appearance and overflowing treasure chest could mean we’re finally getting a full on pirate themed set. That would also tie-in to the Kul Tiras WoW rumors, but there have also been plenty of pirate cards released in unrelated sets.
Either way, we’ll get an answer on Friday, along with a look at some more cards from the set. And if last year’s Hearthstone announcement at BlizzCon is any indication, this new expansion could be much closer to releasing than we expect.
It's looking like BlizzCon 2017 will likely be a pretty thin year for StarCraft announcements. With the recent release of the amazing StarCraft Remastered, we already know there won't be any new announcements from the classic games team. But you don't have to take our word for it, ”We don't plan on making any major announcements at BlizzCon,” said Blizzard’s classic games producer Matt Sherman, in a post on the Battle.net forums.
The odds we’ll hear the first details about the next World of Warcraft expansion seem to be increasingly in our favor. There’s a good case for the next batch of content focusing on Jaina Proudmoore and the pirate city of Kul Tiras, which is ruled by Proudmoore’s father.
An impressively extensive post on Wowhead sums up all the reasons why the winds may be blowing that way, including copious amounts of data-mined assets, a cryptic sea-themed mount name, a Jaina poster for BlizzCon, and even a pirate-themed Pepe plushy that will be available for the first time at BlizzCon this year.
Of course, that’s all still speculation, but the evidence is convincing. Blizzard often likes releasing updates of similar themes as well, and the pirate-y Marin the Fox Hearthstone card being given to attendees might imply a general pirate trend is on the way to Warcraft’s various worlds.
On the long-awaited RTS front, there’s no reason to suspect we’ll hear anything about a new addition to the Warcraft series. However, the rumored Warcraft 3 Remastered likely won’t be making an appearance either, per Sherman’s quote (see above StarCraft section) about classic games announcements at BlizzCon 2017.
It’s almost certain that we’ll see a few new characters coming to Heroes of the Storm, probably along with a new battleground or two. We aren’t sure who or what yet, but Blizzard generally does its BlizzCon reveals in themed sets, so you can expect two or three characters from the same universe.
A panel on Friday also promises to dive into “exciting new updates and gameplay changes,” so it’s not unlikely that we’ll be hearing about some more drastic content coming to HotS. With a relatively new progression and loot system, it’ll be interesting to see what part of the game gets touched up next.
Making room for wild speculation, there’s an argument for Roadhog getting a Nexus arrival. There’s not too much to go on here, but all of the BlizzCon exclusive digital HotS goodies happen to be pig-themed, and the last character to come to the Nexus was Roadhog’s partner in crime Junkrat.
This year expect a whole bunch of nothing when it comes to Diablo announcements. Blizzard has confirmed that outside of a few panels and a small showfloor presence, there will be no news.
"This year, we want to give you a heads-up that while Diablo will be on the show floor, we won’t be making any new Diablo announcements," Blizzard wrote on the Battle.net forums.
Brandin Tyrrel is an Editor at IGN. You can talk to him on Twitter at @BrandinTyrrel.
Tom Marks is an Associate Editor focusing on PC gaming at IGN. You can follow him on Twitter.
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