Blizzard Entertainment's upcoming virtual event, BlizzConline, will celebrate the World of Warcraft developer's 30th anniversary as a company. More details were released on Monday, affirming its recent promise that all content will be available for free. This is a welcome change from years past, when even a virtual ticket for BlizzCon could cost as much as $50.
The opening ceremony for BlizzConline 2021 will take place at 2 pm PST/5 pm EST on Friday, February 19. Afterwards, viewers will be able to choose between six simultaneous streams, each of which will be dedicated to a different Blizzard game. The event will continue the following day at 12 pm PST/3 pm EST and will shift focus to the Blizzard community, featuring BlizzCon staples like a cosplay contest and an art competition. Footage from all of the events will be available afterwards on the BlizzConline website, so viewers will be free to catch up any streams they missed. H
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Diablo 4 was finally announced with a gorgeously gory trailer in 2019, and Blizzard been giving quarterly updates on the game's progress ever since. December's update from Diablo 4 Game Director Luis Barriga promised the announcement of "something chunky" at BlizzConline, making reference to "a new version of the campfire scene we showed you at last BlizzCon." The campfire scene being referred to was a character selection screen, so a new playable class might be on the way.
Unfortunately, it seems pretty unlikely that the game will get a concrete release date anytime soon. Later on in the update, Diablo 4's Lead Game Designer, Joe Shely, mentions that the company "ha[s] lots to share in 2021," implying that Blizzard plans to continue developing Diablo 4 throughout the year.
The free-to-play mobile game Diablo Immortal was first announced at BlizzCon 2018 to a very disappointed audience, but the attitude surrounding the title has been much more optimistic in recent months. It entered a closed Technical Alpha this past December, and pages have already been created for it on the Google Play and Apple App Stores.
One of Blizzard's favorite phrases is "And you can [download/pre-order/play] it right now!" Diablo Immortal would be an excellent choice for a surprise demo, and would help extend the BlizzConline experience over the entire weekend. At the very least, Blizzard will likely announce a release date.
Overwatch 2 was also announced at BlizzCon 2019, but there hasn't been a great deal of information about it since. In a developer update posted last December, Game Director Jeff Kaplan promised to give more information at BlizzConline.
Fans have speculated that the game is still early in its development following a recent interview with voice actor Gaku Space, who voices Genji in the original Overwatch. He hasn't recorded lines for it yet, which no matter how one looks at it, that seems odd. While Overwatch 2 could be another area where Blizzard has a trick up its sleeve, it's probably a safer bet to expect a new trailer and little else.
World of Warcraft received its eighth expansion, Shadowlands, this past November, and the community response so far has been generally positive. Assuming Blizzard plans to follow a content schedule similar to past expansions, World of Warcraft is due for a new patch. Fans are speculating that new Shadowlands content might be announced at BlizzConline, bringing new dungeons, raids, and gear. It would be surprising to get through the weekend without a substantial update on what WoW players can expect in the coming months.
Hearthstone received a slew of updates last year, and there's reason to believe a new mode is coming. Furthermore, many are expecting changes to come to the Basic and Classic card sets that have been in the game since the very beginning.
A trailer for Hearthstone's next expansion seems like the safest best. The first card set of the year is typically released in April, so late February would be the perfect opportunity for an announcement, and since the game's most recent expansion, Madness at the Darkmoon Faire, was released a month ahead of schedule, this next expansion might come out even sooner.
Blizzard has a habit of surprising its fans and usually uses BlizzCon to do it, so fans should expect a couple of curveballs that no one could predict. It's going to be a long couple of weeks to find out what they are, but for now, all there is to do is wait and see.
Blizzconline begins February 19.