By Looks like a solid lineup for Blizzard.
The teams kicked off a bold new chapter in the near-30-year-old franchise Warcraft universe, with new stories and experiences across multiple games set in the legendary world of Azeroth.
World of Warcraft®: The War Within™ is the first installment of The Worldsoul Saga™, an ambitious creative endeavor for the Warcraft universe. In this expansion slated for release in 2024, players will travel to the new continent of Khaz Algar as an ancient civilization rises to power deep beneath the surface of the planet.
The vision for The Worldsoul Saga was announced to players around the world live on stage, including two expansions following The War Within—World of Warcraft®: Midnight™ and World of Warcraft®: The Last Titan™.
Warcraft Rumble™, the first Warcraft game designed from the ground up for mobile, is live now on iOS and Android! An action-packed strategy game, Rumble invites players to assemble armies with their favorite characters from the Warcraft universe and battle it out to test their tactical wits. With over 70 unique missions, as well as weekly and monthly challenges in the form of multipart dungeons, PvP, and more, Warcraft Rumble is full of authentic Warcraft vibes, created by a team with deep roots in the game universe.
World of Warcraft Classic invites players to return to Azeroth once again and begin a new journey—with a twist! In Season of Discovery, players will start a fresh adventure where exploration and experimentation will be key to unlocking new abilities for their characters. Then, in 2024, Classic players will witness the breaking of the world (again) in World of Warcraft: Cataclysm Classic™! Blizzard Entertainment’s third World of Warcraft expansion, originally released in December 2010, returns with faster content cadence, improvements to leveling, expanded Collections UI, a new difficulty level for Dungeon Group Finder after launch, and more!
Two heads are better than one in Hearthstone® Battlegrounds Duos, an exciting and truly collaborative way to play coming to the popular game mode in 2024. Two players can partner up and strategize together, sharing cards, health, and resources as they work with special Duos cards and synergies to take the crown together!
With a campaign that continues the dark tale that began in Diablo® IV, Vessel of Hatred ™ brings players back to learn the fate of the prime evil Mephisto and his demonic plans for Sanctuary. Travel to the lush jungles known by the locals as Nahantu and explore fresh ways to play, with a completely new Class never seen before in the Diablo universe. Vessel of Hatred will be released in late 2024, with more details to be shared next summer.
Players have a lot more to look forward to this year in Season of Blood, with more end-game experiences and the Midwinter Blight holiday event announced to come before the season concludes.
Mauga is coming to Overwatch® 2 as the game’s newest tank hero! Players can experience this new hero during a limited-time trial this weekend before his release in Season 8. The Overwatch team also revealed there’s much more to come, including the brand-new Clash PvP game mode where players will visit the new Hanaoka map, inspired by an original fan favorite, Hanamura.
Other news of note.
New Level Cap: 85
New Races: Worgen & Goblin
Play as the enigmatic and fierce Worgen, cursed citizens of Gilneas who have tamed their wild instincts as they seek allies in the Alliance.
Aid the shipwrecked Bilgewater Cartel Goblins as they seen a new home in the Horde in the wake of Deathwing’s destruction of their island nation.
New Profession: Archeology
Archaeology allows players to explore digsites across Azeroth to learn more about the history of the world’s storied races while earning rewards in the process.
A little bit of modernization:
A limited number of features will be new to Cataclysm Classic that were not originally available when the expansion first launched in 2010:
Increased and streamlined leveling: with a faster cadence for content updates, leveling speeds will be adjusted to give players the ability to jump into the new expansion quicker.
Expanded collections UI: first introduced in Wrath Classic, that will enable account-wide management of the new transmogrification system.
Dungeon difficulty modifiers: The Titan Rune dungeon system introduced in Wrath Classic will return to provide new challenges for dungeon runners.
Optional bundles to celebrate Deathwing’s return
Two new bundles will be available starting today for Classic players who wish to commemorate the return of the fallen Earth-warder:
Blazing Heroic Pack, $30 USD: includes a flying Ragnaros mount and Lil’ Wrathion pet, both usable in the modern game and Classic, and a twilight cultist transmog set and goblin town toy, both unique to Classic.
Blazing Epic Upgrade, $80 USD: all items included in the Heroic pack, plus a level 80 boost (with catch-up gear, bags, and a small amount of gold) and 30 days of game time.
RUNES
Throughout the world, players will need to discover special runes that will provide access to new abilities, some that have never been available to classes in WoW Classic.
RUNE-ENGRAVING
Players will be able to apply a limited number of runes via rune-engraving, which also allows players to swap out abilities when not in combat to encourage experimentation.
Incremental Level Cap Increases
Season of Discovery will start with a cap of level 25 and will be increased over time to offer a more progressive endgame experience at each level band.
Classic Dungeons Reimagined
Each phase’s level cap will provide new content for players to experience, starting with the level 25 Blackfathom Deeps 10-man raid: formerly a level-up 5-player dungeon, it has been reworked with redesigned boss encounters to offer exciting challenges that will put players’ builds to the test.
World PvP Events
In addition to new raids, each level band’s cap zone will host some world PvP events for players to test their new abilities against others. The level 25 PvP zone to start will be in Ashenvale.
Explore the new continent of Khaz Algar: Off the western shores of Kalimdor lies The Isle of Dorn, a new hub for both the Horde and Alliance. Begin to explore what dwells beneath the surface in the lava-fuelled forge of The Ringing Deeps, the lush Hallowfall, and the pinnacle of Nerubian society, Azj-Kahet.
New Playable Allied Race – the Earthen: Players will meet and unlock this Titan-forged race who have made Khaz Algar their home, with their own unique civilization and culture.
Expand your Warcraft fantasy with Hero Talents: A new level of class specialization customization, Hero Talents are modelled after well-known archetypes from the Warcraft universe, including Dark Ranger, Farseer, and more.
Delves: New bite-size adventures seamlessly integrated into the world, which flexibly scale to support 1-5 players, and offer meaningful progression.
Warbands: A quality-of-life feature for players with multiple characters, Warbands allow banks, reputations, transmogs, and more to be shared across all player characters.
The War Within: Base Edition – $49.99 USD
Pre-purchase of World of Warcraft: The War Within
Access to World of Warcraft: Dragonflight*
Enhanced Level 70 character boost, allowing players to jump immediately into the upcoming content update for Dragonflight, Guardians of the Dream.
500 Trader’s Tender
The War Within: Heroic Edition – $69.99 USD
All Base Edition features
Algarian Stormrider mount and access to special dynamic-flying racecourses
Upgradable Stormrider’s Attire transmog set
An additional 250 Trader’s Tender, for a total of 750
The War Within: Epic Edition – $89.99 USD
All Base and Heroic Edition features
Beta access to World of Warcraft: The War Within**
Early access, minimum of three days before the expansion’s launch***
Squally the Storm Hatchling pet
Sandbox Storm Gryphon toy
An additional 250 Trader’s Tender, for a total of 1,000
30-day subscription time
The post Blizzard Announces Big News At Blizzcon 2023 first appeared on Skewed ‘n Reviewed.