This site makes extensive use of JavaScript.
Please enable JavaScript in your browser.
Live
PTR
News
Blizzard at gamescom 2015 Guide: Press Releases, Previews, Schedule, and More
gamescom 2015 is shaping up to be the largest for Blizzard Entertainment, with the 6th WoW Expansion being revealed on August 6th, 9 am PDT. We've put together this guide to everything you need to know about Blizzard at gamescom, and will be updating it throughout the event with links to our panel coverage.
In addition, Perc and Panser will be streaming their reactions and post-announcement analysis over on
http://www.twitch.tv/wowhead
right after the WoW event is finished! Tweet your expansion thoughts with the hashtag #WowheadXpacHype and we may read it on the show!
So far we've gotten major Hearthstone, Heroes of the Storm, and Overwatch news from the press conference--as well as Overwatch suddenly showing up in the Battle.net launcher. There was apparently no Warcraft news revealed, but
Mamytwink reports
that Tom Chilton said there will be a trailer and some videos at Thursday's announcement.
Q2 2015 Results: WoW Down to 5.6 Million Subscribers
Activision Blizzard released their second quarter 2015 results today, and
World of Warcraft is at 5.6 million subscribers
, down 1.5 million from the Q1 2015 earnings report. While these numbers are quite low by recent standards, numbers should be bouncing back up with the
expansion announcement at gamescom
.
Read Activison's Q2
Earnings Press Release
,
Second Quarter Presentation
, and
Summary Sheet
.
Here's the description of Warcraft from the press release:
Blizzard Entertainment had the largest online player community in its history, with Q2 MAUs up 50% year-over-year. Though World of Warcraft® ended the quarter at 5.6 million subscribers, Blizzard revenues are up year-over-year based on strong performance across the expanding Blizzard portfolio. On June 23, 2015, Blizzard Entertainment released, Fury of Hellfire, one of the largest non-expansion content updates to date for World of Warcraft. This new content helped stabilize the subscriber number towards the end of the quarter. World of Warcraft remains the No. 1 subscription‐based MMORPG in the world.
In the Q2 slide presentation, Fury of Hellfire was credited was stabilizing the subscriber base in the last few weeks of the quarter. Patch 6.2.1 was also mentioned as a draw for players due to the addition of Flying, as well as PvP mercenary mode.
Community Manager Bashiok Leaving Blizzard
Community Manager Bashiok announced that today is his last day at Blizzard. Bashiok started as a Community Manager for Blizzard in 2003 and has worked on
Diablo III
and
World of Warcraft
.
New World of Warcraft Expansion Revealed on August 6th, Complete Blizzard gamescom 2015 Schedule
Blizzard has announced that the new World of Warcraft expansion will be revealed on August 6th, on the gamescom live stream! There will be a followup World of Warcraft developer chat on the expansion on Sunday, August 9th. What do you think will be revealed?
If you're taking a break from WoW and are thinking about returning with this announcement, check out our
Patch 6.2 Survival Guide
and our
Boosted Level 90 Player Essentials
.
Blizzard
Join us Thursday, August 6 at 9 a.m. PDT for a special World of Warcraft event streamed live from gamescom 2015 in Cologne, Germany—where we’ll be unveiling the next chapter of the World of Warcraft saga. . . .
Tune in again Sunday, August 9 at 8:00 a.m. PDT for a World of Warcraft developer chat before the show ends, and find out more about what’s in store.
Stay tuned to our dedicated
gamescom
page for further details on the live stream. Those who are able to join us in person at gamescom can visit us at the Blizzard booth in hall 7.1. We hope to see you there!
Hearthstone Expansion The Grand Tournament Announced
With 132 brand new cards, Blizzard announced the new Hearthstone expansion today called "The Grand Tournament." This expansion is in the theme of World of Warcraft's Argent Tournament. For a little nostalgia trip, check out the rest of the post!
Downtime Tuesday #25, Blizzcon Contest Signups, and Westfall Recreation
We have a new episode of Downtime Tuesday!
Downtime Tuesday Episode 25 with
Panser
covers Mercenary Mode, the Wowhead Blizzcon Party, and the upcoming addition of flying.
Downtime Tuesday #22, Patch 6.2 Hotfixes 6/29-6/30, This Month in WoW: July 2015
Downtime Tuesday Episode 22 with
Panser
covers 6.2 bugs, hotfixes, the legendary ring upgrade, and Wowhead interview!
Continue reading for Blizzard's July 2015 Overview and hotfixes for class trinkets and set bonuses, including
Empty Drinking Horn
and
Tome of Shifting Words
.
Wowhead To Interview Ion Hazzikostas, Legendary Naval Mission Guide
Legendary Naval Missions Guide
Following the success of the
Warlords of Draenor Shipyard Guide
, we've made an in-depth guide to
completing naval missions for the legendary questline
.
This guide explains how to maximize success on each mission, extra requirements like rep grinding for blueprints, information on which equipment you need, and provides sample ship/ability setups for all missions.
Check out our guide to Legendary Naval Missions
as well as our
Patch 6.2 Survival Guide
for information on other patch content.
Wowhead Interview with Ion Hazzikostas
Wowhead Weekly is interviewing Lead Game Designer Ion Hazzikostas this weekend. Perc and Panser will be asking questions about the latest patch, as well as seeking clarifications on any topics from the
6.2 Developer Q&A
. If you have any questions you'd like to have asked, please leave your suggestions in the comments!
Developer Q&A with Ion Hazzikostas and Wowhead Recap and Post Q&A Show
Saturday, June 13th is the long awaited Developer Q & A with Ion Hazzikostas. This Q&A was broadcast at
http://www.twitch.tv/wow
and we live blogged it here on Wowhead! Please see the full article for the liveblogged questions!
It also looks like Patch 6.2 will be called Fury of Hellfire, based on the artwork seen in the background of the interview:
Patch 6.2 Titles, Ashran Excavation Preview, Shadow Priest Feedback
Today we're previewing titles coming in Patch 6.2, as well as a new Ashran sub-zone. We've also got a lengthy post on Shadow Priests coming in 6.2 by Technical Game Designer Celestalon.
Ashran in Patch 6.2 is getting new quests and a brand-new area.
The Ashran Excavation Area is an underground area with new competitive events. Your goal is to collect Apexis Marks of Redemption by killing Arakkoa ghosts. Whoever turns in 50 marks first wins.
Faction bosses and events do not rewards Conquests Points in 6.2, but there are new ways to get Conquest Points in Ashran.
There are also new PvP titles coming in 6.2:
is awarded to those who ended Warlords PvP Season 1 in the top .1% of the arena ladder. and will be awarded for future PvP seasons.
There are three titles for Rated Battlegrounds, which can be earned in Warlords Season 1, 2, or 3:
/ for ending a PvP season in the top 35% of the rated battleground ladder.
/ for ending a PvP season in the top 10% of the rated battleground ladder.
/ for ending a PvP season in the top 3% of the rated battleground ladder.
In addition to these Rated Battlegrounds rewards, there are new mount options:
Vicious War Mechanostrider
and
Vicious War Kodo
.
VentureBeat Interview with Ion "Watcher" Hazzikostas, Archimonde Transmog Loot
Archimonde Transmog Gear
Archimonde
drops three pieces of transmog gear that resemble his armor. They are
Demon Prince's Ascendant Crown
,
Mantle of the Eredar Lord
, and
Demonbuckle Sash of Argus
. Click on the image below to view all three pieces in our 3D modelviewer.
This is in addition to the class-specific trinkets he drops, as well as
Calamity's Edge
and
Edict of Argus
which are updated versions of iconic weapons! Check out our
6.2 Weapons Preview
for even more 3D models.
VentureBeat Interview
Lead Game Designer Ion "Watcher" Hazzikostas discussed the surge and wane of subscriptions with Warlords of Draenor with VentureBeat. You can
read the full interview here
and we have the highlights below.
WoW Down to 7.1 Million Subscribers in Q1 2015, New Blizzard Merchandise, State of PvP
Activision Blizzard released their first quarter 2015 results today, and
World of Warcraft is at 7.1 million subscribers
, down 2.9 million from
10 million reported at Warlords' launch
. Earlier in 2014, WoW was down to
6.8M for Q2
(the lengthy break between new content with Siege of Orgrimmar) and increased to
7.4M for Q3
as players got ready for Warlords of Draenor.
Click here to read the First Quarter Presentation.
This is a steeper loss than the first quarter after Mists of Pandaria launched. For
Q4 2012
, subs were at 9.6 million after Mists of Pandaria launched in September 2012 with
over 10 million subscribers
.
The subscriptions from
WoW Token
were not counted in this report as they were launched in Quarter 2.
As for other Blizzard games, Heroes of the Storm is up to 11 million beta sign-ups and saw the release of the Founder's Pack for $39.99, while Hearthstone had steady engagement due to the recently-released
Goblins vs Gnomes
expansion.
Market Watch
has a summary of the report and the conference call starts at
4:30 EST
, which you can listen to at
http://investor.activision.com/events.cfm
. Here's their summary of Warcraft:
Blizzard Entertainment had the largest Q1 online player community in its history, up a double digit percentage year over year despite no major launches in the quarter. As expected and consistent with our experience following prior expansions, we saw a decline in the World of Warcraft subscriber number. Subscribers ended the quarter at 7.1 million. World of Warcraft’s revenue performance at constant FX has been more stable, driven by continued strong uptake on value added services, and price increases in select regions, which partially offset subscriber declines, particularly in the East. World of Warcraft remains the No. 1 subscription-based MMORPG in the world.
PvP Live Developer Q&A with Brian Holinka, 6.2 PTR Raid Testing Schedule
PvP Developer Brian Holinka did a PvP Q&A today! Please see the liveblogged questions below.
The Hellfire Citadel Raid Testing schedule was also just announced, make sure to check out our
Hellfire Citadel Dungeon Journal
for ability information and loot tables.
Wowhead Weekly Returns with Episode 30, Warcraft Pint Glasses Giveaway!
Wowhead Weekly has returned! We're back to livestreaming the shows on Friday afternoons on
twitch.tv/wowhead
.
Wowhead Weekly is a World of Warcraft podcast with Wowhead Site Manager Perculia and Downtime Tuesday host TradeChat where all the recent Blizzard news and Wowhead developments are discussed. You can
subscribe to our YouTube Channel
to see every episode.
In addition to the show this week, they also have a special giveaway. Blizzard Entertainment has graciously provided them with 10 sets of Warcraft Pint Glasses to give away--just use the widget below to enter! You can even enter multiple times by visiting the Pint Glasses page and sharing the giveaway on Twitter each day.
Warcraft Pint Glasses Giveaway
in
ZAM Network's Hangs
on
LockerDome
(function(d,s,id,elid) {window.ldInit = window.ldInit || ;js=d.createElement(s); js.id=id;js.async=true;js.src="//cdn2.lockerdome.com/_js/embed.js";fjs.parentNode.insertBefore(js,fjs);}(document, "script", "lockerdome-wjs", "ld-3594-2402"));
Read on for show links and more information on the pint glasses!
This Month in WoW - April 2015
Blizzard has posted an overview of events coming in April 2015. There are two annual holidays as well as the return of the Darkmoon Faire with a new racing game!
Noblegarden
starts April 6th and has the new
Mystical Spring Bouquet
The
Darkmoon Faire
starts April 5th and three new race options are available:
Big Rocketeer: Gold
, for using a
Rocketeer
, rewards a
Race MiniZep Controller
. This teaches the battle pet
Race MiniZep
.
Big Race Roadhog
, for using a
Racing Strider
, rewards a
Checkered Flag
. This increases mount speed by 30% for 10 minutes.
Rocketeer: Gold
, for using a
Rocketeer
, rewards an
Everlasting Darkmoon Firework
. This is a permanent version of
Darkmoon Firework
, a firework with the Faire logo.
Children's Week
starts April 27th and has numerous battle pets.
There are also numerous Arena tournaments and
BlizzCon 2015 tickets
go on sale!
As usual, stay tuned for the Wowhead holiday guides for an in-depth look at each event.
We've also been busy today updating Hearthhead for Blackrock Mountain--even if you're not an avid Hearthstone player, the
Blackrock Mountain Overview
is worth a read to see how this iconic WoW zone has been imagined as a card game.
Pax East 2015 Blizzard Preview: Hearthstone, Overwatch, and Heroes of the Storm
Overking was thrilled to be invited along to Blizzard HQ to preview all the cool new stuff Overwatch is sharing at PAX! We've got two new heroes and a new map, check it all out
here at our sister site, Overking
!
PAX East Liveblog
Blizzard previewed some upcoming features and games today at Pax East 2015. The new Hearthstone adventure is Blackrock Mountain, Sylvanas is a new hero in Heroes of the Storm, and two new Overwatch heroes and a map were revealed!
We've liveblogged the Blizzard panel and have included screenshots, new cinematic trailers, and blue posts about the upcoming features in our article.
Liveblog: Raids and Dungeons Q&A With Lead Game Designer Ion “Watcher” Hazzikostas
We've liveblogged the Warlords Q&A with Lead Game Designer Ion “Watcher” Hazzikostas! Click the cut for our summary of the questions and answers.
Important points covered include:
Everbloom and Skyreach Challenge Mode fixes.
Foundry loot from missions.
Timewalker mode - scaling down your character to lower dungeons.
Blackrock Foundry difficulty tuning.
Number of raid tiers this expansion.
You can also rewatch the VOD
here
. There's also been numerous
recent hotfixes
and a new
Recruit-a-Friend mount
announced today.
Blizzard's Patch 6.1 Survival Video and Blog
Patch 6.1 is around the corner, so Blizzard has put together a survival video and
guide to their official coverage
.
Patch 6.1 goes live on February 24th.
Check out our past coverage and guides to 6.1 features:
Updated Blood Elf Models
In-Game Twitter Integration
and the
SELFIE Camera
Heirloom collections
and
Chauffeured Chopper
mount reward
New Darkmoon Faire games and rewards
New pets from
Raiding with Leashes III
.
Garrisons: New ilvl cap for followers,
daily Garrison quests
,
jukebox and music scrolls
,
Foundry and Profession Missions
, and
legendary follower
. We have a
Patch 6.1 Garrison Guide
and have updated all of our
Garrison Guides
for 6.1 as well.
Profession updates
--new recipes and changed reagents. All of our
profession guides
are updated for 6.1 as well.
Better Challenge Mode Rewards
More toys for the Toy Box
including
Trans-Dimensional Bird Whistle
.
Patch 6.1 is going live during the
Lunar Festival
, so save up your
Coin of Ancestry
because currently on the PTR, you can buy heirloom upgrades with them like
Timeworn Heirloom Armor Casing
.
In the video below, Lore talks about a "super-rare" mount, referring to the
Voidtalon of the Dark Star
. The source is unknown but there is
The Last Voidtalon
,
Voidtalon of the Dark Star
, and
Launch Voidtalon Scenario
in the data, as well as "Source: Voidtalon Egg" in the mount journal.
Be sure to check out our
other news from today
, including
Downtime Tuesday
,
Slagworks LFR
,
February 17th Hotfixes
, and a
6.1 dev interview
.
Blizzard's Q4 2014 Report, Sigil of the Black Hand Quest, Upgraded SELFIE Filters, Feb 5th Hotfixes
In today's news, we have a short round of Blackrock Foundry fixes for February 5th hotfixes, pictures of the
S.E.L.F.I.E. Camera MkII
filters on the PTR, details on the Activision Blizzard Q4 earnings report, and info on a special Blackrock Foundry quest.
Sigil of the Black Hand Quest
An incentive for players to clear
Blackrock Foundry
multiple times is the
Sigil of the Black Hand
quest. This quest allows you to skip to Blackhand with
Sigil of the Black Hand
--perfect for when you no longer need loot from the early bosses.
To complete this quest, you will need to kill the end-wing bosses in Blackrock Foundry for 4 each of
Ember of the Mountain
,
Heart of Stone
, and
Sliver of Iron
. They are
Blast Furnace
,
Kromog
, and
Iron Maidens
.
Goraluk Anvilcrack
starts the quest. He is found at 87.3, 50.2 inside Blackrock Foundry, just south of the Iron Maidens.
Completing the quest on a higher difficulty also unlocks the Blackhand skip on lower difficulties.
Blizzard's February 2015 Overview, Blackrock Foundry Clarification, February 2nd Hotfixes
A ton of things are happening in February 2015, so Blizzard put together a handy overview of all the events. They also clarify that Blackrock Foundry is separate from 6.1:
Love is in the Air
runs from February 2nd to 16th, with new pets, toys, and achievements. Our
guide is updated for 2015
based on EU player reports and it will be up on the front page when it hits US servers.
Blackrock Foundry
Normal and Heroic open on February 3rd. We've been highlighting our
boss strategy guides
, but there's other important raid-related content as well:
New world boss
Rukhmar
drops ilvl 665 gear and a sweet
Solar Spirehawk
mount.
The legendary questline continues with
Chapter III: The Foundry Falls
, which rewards an ilvl 710 ring with the special proc
Item - Attacks Proc Archmage's Greater Incandescence
to increase your primary stat by 15% for 10 sec:
Spellbound Runic Band of Elemental Power
,
Spellbound Runic Band of the All-Seeing Eye
,
Spellbound Runic Band of Unrelenting Slaughter
,
Spellbound Runic Band of Elemental Invincibility
,
Spellbound Runic Band of Infinite Preservation
. Learn about this part of the questline with our
Warlords of Draenor Legendary Guide
.
Blackrock Foundry vs Patch 6.1 Clarification
Following some confusion about the addition of profession items with Blackrock Foundry, Community Manager Lore has posted on the forums to clarify just what is coming this week:
Lore
Correct. We've been seeing a bunch of confusion about this, so let me try to clarify as best as I can:
The opening of Blackrock Foundry is completely independent of the release of Patch 6.1. At roughly 10AM Pacific time tomorrow, the entrance to Blackrock Foundry will activate, and you'll be able to zone in and start killing stuff. No patch necessary.
Similarly, any of the new changes or features listed in the
Patch 6.1 PTR notes
will not be live until Patch 6.1 actually releases. That includes the Heirlooms collection, stage 4 crafted gear, new follower missions, various talent buffs, and the updated Blood Elf model. Any changes made prior to the release of Patch 6.1 (including balance changes and bugfixes) will be noted in our
Patch 6.0.3 Hotfix Blog
.
1
4
5
6
7
8
50
