BlizzCon is heading fully online this year to safely celebrate the company's 30th anniversary. Among the numerous talks and panels on the BlizzCon schedule is nestled a very special event for tabletop fans: the cast of Critical Role, the hit D&D web series, will be coming together with a couple of special guests to run a one-shot Diablo-themed campaign.
According to a Tweet from the official Critical Role Twitter account, the game will be broadcast on February 20th at 2:05pm PST, with host Matthew Mercer joined by regulars Laura Bailey and Liam O'Brien along with special guests Mica Burton and Carlos Luna. Not much is yet known about the content of the show other than it being set in the world of Diablo, but the official event description on the BlizzCon website suggests that the plucky band of adventurers will be pursuing "something ancient and evil beneath the ruins of Old Tristram." Whether this will connect in a deeper way to the established Diablo canon, or even to the ephemeral Diablo 4, it remains to be seen.
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Critical Role has gained a lot of love over the years from a large and dedicated fanbase, although their invitation to put on a game for the patrons of this year's digital BlizzCon may even go beyond their enduring popularity. The cast of the show is comprised of professional voice actors, and a number of them have worked on Blizzard products in the past: host Matthew Mercer voices Overwatch's McCree, while O'Brien and Bailey have both done work for World of Warcraft.
Since its humble beginnings as a one-off Dungeons & Dragons game, the show has exploded with content that covers Twitch streams, merchandise and even their own publishing company, Darrington Press. Currently the party is battling across the continent of Wildemount in their second D&D 5th Edition campaign, which began in 2018 and broadcasts weekly. After a brief hiatus due to the pandemic, they have resumed their campaign in a socially-distanced studio, from where they will presumably be broadcasting for their BlizzCon show.
There's plenty more to be seen at this year's BlizzCon alongside the Critical Role team, though. From the opening ceremony on February 19th onward, the schedule is jam-packed with discussions, Q&A sessions, special matches in the company's iconic games and more, spread across six dedicated channels covering all of Blizzard's most important franchises. The 30th anniversary celebrations even cover various in-game exclusives in titles like World of Warcraft and Hearthstone. Big reveals for franchises like Overwatch may be thin on the ground at this year's BlizzCon, but the company have clearly gone to great pains to fill their all-digital, free-to-watch extravaganza with plenty of other goodies.
BlizzCon kicks off at 2:00pm PST on February 19th, and the Critical Role team begins their Diablo one-shot at 2:05pm PST on February 20th. In the meantime, you can catch them every Thursday at 7:00pm PST on Twitch and YouTube.
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Source: Blizzard