BlizzCon 2023 Opening Ceremony Liveblog

Blizzard Posted 2023/11/03 at 12:56 PM by Archimtiros

Introduction by Mike Ybarra

Blizzard President Mike Ybarra has just taken the stage to welcome everyone to BlizzCon 2023, calling Blizzard fans the best gaming community in the world. It's been too long since we were all together!

Tens of thousands of fans have gathered in Anaheim to attend the convention and Blizzard's most immersive experience to date, but BlizzCon isn't just about the latest updates from Blizzard - it's about you! Players are at the forefront of everything Blizzard does, and building communities that we can be proud of. We're all united in our shared love for gaming.

BlizzCon truly is about all of us, as players, as equals, as friends. As the developers continue to expand their worlds, the Blizzard communities and our friendships within them grow. Not everything may be done perfectly, but the developers strive to do right by all its fans.

As for Blizzard joining the Xbox Gaming family, and with that in mind, Mike Ybarra turns the mic over to the CEO of Microsoft Gaming - Phil Spencer!

Introducing Phil Spencer

This is Phil Spencer's first BlizzCon ever! Communities like this are the reason they make games, inspiring them to push higher. Blizzard occupies a special place in gaming history, pioneering so much, from Diablo propelling the ARPG genre forward, to StarCraft spawning the foundation of ESports, and World of Warcraft changing how developers support games and expanding the concept of online communities. Xbox is committed to bringing more games to more players in more places, and Phil has pledged to nurture the essence of what makes Blizzard unique - empowering the developers to continue doing what they do best - redefining new genres, creating experiences, and uniting players in new ways, from Azeroth and Sanctuary and beyond. Welcome to BlizzCon 2023, the future of Blizzard is brighter than ever!

Welcoming New and Returning Friends to the Stage

Before he leaves, Mike Ybarra takes a moment to thank the Blizzard team. Many of them are here today in Anaheim, working hard to ensure the community enjoys their time, but they love talking to players, so be sure to introduce yourself and chat with them! On behalf of Blizzard, Mike thanks the players for their passion, their honesty, and for being part of their community - everything they do is for all of us fans, and this is what BlizzCon is all about! Welcome to BlizzCon!

Overwatch

Overwatch takes central stage for their first announcement, welcoming Game Director Aaron Keller!

Since first revealing Overwatch at BlizzCon 2013, the game and its community have continued to evolve into something beautify. The development of Overwatch is first and foremost focused on players, representing its global community, celebrating Pride, adding Peruvian heroes, and recognizing those focused on achievement - releasing new progression systems and hero mastery courses. For those who want something different, April Fools and there's even an actual Dating Sim (Loverwatch). Listening to feedback is important and they've been working on an overhaul of the competitive system, but there is so much more to come.

Now introducing the Art Director of Overwatch, Dion Rogers! He is here to introduce the newest hero - Mauga! A Samoan hero exuding attitude, confidence, and bullets from every angle!

Mauga was first introduced several years ago in short stories, and players have asked for him to become a playable hero ever since! His name means Mountain in Samoan, and although he is portrayed as a big brute, he is a cunning tactician always a step ahead of his enemies. Players see themselves in their heroes, and with Mauga... they got a lot of help! Using actual Samoan tattoo artists to bring the character to live. He has a brutal playstyle, that is easy to play and hard to master, but oh so fun to play!

now introducing the host of Overwatch Esports, Soe Gschwind! This weekend celebrates teams and players from around the world, each with their own unique playstyles, personalities, and metas - it's so exciting to see competitive names in the Overwatch series take the stage, players new and old taking the spotlight. There's a lot to see and play this weekend, with over $500,000 on the line, and for the first time this year, each and every player will earn a share!

Director Aaron Keller returns to introduce another exciting collaboration with Le Sserafim - one of the most exciting KPop groups in the world and in honor of this collaboration, they'll be performing live tomorrow night around 6pm Pacific!

There's even more coming in 2024, including a brand new core PvP game mode - Clash, featuring 5 objectives, with the teams battling back and forth, attacking and defending until a team captures all five points. The initial map is a tribute to one the first Overwatch maps - the home of the Shimura clan - Hanaoka!

With Seasons, one of the teams goals is to speak to the cool and awesome things we love - next year we'll experience eldritch horror, Egyptian mythology, and even an alternative universe where heroes and villains switch roles! Mauga is the 39th hero of Overwatch revealed today, but another three more will come next year! Lastly, for the first time ever during a BlizzCon, not only is the newest hero available to test at BlizzCon, but Mauga will be available to play from home all weekend long!

Diablo

Rod Fergusson takes the stage, revealing his new Necro tattoo in celebration of Diablo IV! The Diablo fan base has always been hungry, fed by new games every year for the last three years.

Diablo II: Resurrected redefined the classic for a new generation, while Immortal brought millions of new players into the universe - 60% of the Immortal players never even played a Diablo game before! And of course... Diablo IV has just released to massive success!

Now introducing the two production directors of Diablo IV, Tiffany Wat and Chris Wilson. First, highlighting player feedback, new boss fights from 55-100, including Duriel. Those bosses will drop
In the season of blood, players can get to max level about 40% faster than before, but all that leveling is about getting amazing loot, so they've raised the power cap, allowing more challenging fights to give better loot.

Quality of life improvements have also been coming from the community, with renown rewards carrying over between seasons, additional character slots, adding a targeting dummy, searching and filtering the stash, as well as making it more accessible in more spaces. World bosses spawn more often, and there's even more inventory space thanks to moving gems and crafting materials around! These are just a few of the many new improvements, while starting next week, there will be class specific rings reliving fun from Season of Malignant!

On Dec 5th, an enchanting preview will also be added to the Occultist and there'll be another exciting event, the Abattoir of Zir - a repayable pinnacle experience for max level players, but beware that it starts difficult and only gets harder! As we near the end of Season of Blood, there'll be the first holiday event, Midwinter blight, transforming the fractured peaks into a winter terrorland... just watch out for the mysterious red cloaked terror!

Diablo IV: Vessel of Hatred is the newest reveal, Diablo IV's first expansion! Its campaign will continue the fate of the Prime Evil Mephisto, visiting lush jungles, with new ways to play, new evils to vanquish, and a completely new class to the Diablo universe! The expansion will launch late next year, but more will be revealed over this summer.

Warcraft Franchise

Welcome to the World of Warcraft! We're now joined by the General Manager of Warcraft, John Hight. Big shout out to the Warcraft teams, there's a ton of fun stuff to show today - almost 30 years ago, a dispute between Orcs and Humans led to one of the longest running fantasy adventures in video game history. Generations of players have called Azeroth home... teenage players are now parents of new heroes tackling dungeons and raids in this timeless adventure. Today is a great day for Warcraft!

Throughout the taverns of Azeroth, tall tales of adventure are retold through the clever card play of Hearthstone, but now a new game, Warcraft Rumble, puts the battlefields and dungeons of Azeroth in the palm of our hands! Almost 20 years ago, WoW revolutionized online communities; the very first BlizzCon introduced the very first expansion, so its fitting that today they lay the foundation for WoW's future - Azeroth is a home we can always escape to. Together we craft the worlds and adventures, but the players bring it to life - from everyone on the Warcraft teams, thank you.

Hearthstone

Hearthstone Lead Designer Cora Georgiou is here to celebrate Hearthstone's upcoming 10th anniversary, a decade of telling tales around Azeroth. Thanks for being a part of our bustling tavern, but there's still a lot to enjoy before the anniversary comes next March - we're setting up for a standoff in Hearthstone's next expansion, Showdown in the Badlands. Unknown to them, two strangers will cross paths, an outlaw and lone ranger are destined for a grand adventure.

Reno Jackson and Elyse Starseeker are getting an origin story! They'll be showing many of the new cards later today, including Hearthstone's first neutral card, before the expansion releases on November 14th.

To help new and overwhelmed players beginning their Hearthstone adventure, the team is excited to announce Catch Up Packs, offering up to 50 cards instead of the normal five - all from the last 2 years, ready to play in constructed. All players will get Catch Up packs once they log in, and anyone at BlizzCon or who has bought one of the digital collections will get a few more for free!

Battlegrounds fans, what if you could play teamed up alongside each other? The team is pleased to announce, a truly cooperative way to play - Battlegrounds Duos! With a shared health pool, team combat, and switching cards between players, now you can play with your friends instead of just against them. Attendees in person can try Duos at the Hearthstone demo area today, but the new way to play is planned to launch for everyone early next year.

Warcraft Rumble

Welcome Executive Producer Vik Saraf! The goal of Warcraft Rumble is to give everything players love about Warcraft, reimagined with a big dose of joyful chaos, however you want to enjoy it - five minutes at a time or five hours on end. Rumble is available to download and play on mobile devices right now!

A huge campaign with over 70 bosses, and even a heroic version with a little extra difficulty. Each map is handcrafted with verticality, traps, puzzles, and challenges to overcome.

There are solo dungeons, intense three-million gauntlets through Gnomeregon and the Deadmines. There are PvP maps inspired by those from World of Warcraft, and even guilds for players to band together. That's all in the game right now, but even more is coming, including new minis with each season... starting right now! Season 1 of Warcraft Rumble is live, bringing the Banshee Queen herself: Sylvanas Windrunner! But don't worry, there's even more to come, including the biggest Warcraft challenge - raids. Enjoy the chaos, and we'll see you in game!

World of Warcraft

Now introducing World of Warcraft Executive Producer Holly Longdale, celebrating nearly 20 years of WoW!

WoW Classic was born out of community passion, which still drives them today, with the release of Classic Hardcore last August. Though you may have just one life, the game doesn't stop there: because the community has asked, the team is adding a new way to play Hardcore...

So where are we going next? There's been a LOT of feedback from players, and here at BlizzCon Holly is pleased to announce that Classic Cataclysm is coming, with #Changes based on player feedback and a brand new trailer by Hurricane!

Get ready to experience a new age of Cataclysm, the road to Deathwing's destruction is coming in the first half of next year!

The team has loved watching players master Vanilla WoW, but now they're introducing a new twist... of discovery. Season of Discovery will introduce a whole new twist on the familiar classic - with an initial level cap of 25, players will discover a new 10 player Blackfathom Depths raid with new mechanics and rewards. After a few months, the level cap will be raised, introducing new endgame content all over again.

If you love classic or you're intrigued by what a Warlock tank or Mage healer can do, you won't have to wait long - Season of Discovery launches in a few short weeks on November 30th, but they want everyone to discover it together, so there will be no public testing!

Dragonriders! The next major update, Patch 10.2: Guardians of the Dream, goes live in just 5 days! There's a lot more to come though, we are evolving - changing our approach. It's time for a new adventure, one grown from the seeds of what captured our hearts. For veteran players, the last 20 years have led us to this. Who better to talk about the first step in this journey than someone who carved the path in the first place... Executive Creative Director Chris Metzen!?

It's been a long strange trip back to this spot, especially this last year, under the hood of World of Warcraft. Next year is the 20th anniversary of World of Warcraft, and what expansion hook could possibly match such a historic occasion? Thinking back to the good old days, and epic ideas that established Warcraft, old stories still unresolved... like what has Magni been babbling about all these years? Is the thing he came to warn us about in Battle for Azeroth still looming? Will there be an apocalyptic confrontation between the forces of the Light and Void? And what have the Titans actually been doing since the dawn of civilization? What is the real purpose of all their installations, do we know everything we need to know about their real intentions for our world? All of these hooks and a ~~hundred~~ bunch more reveal an epic storyline, a culmination of the first 20 years of Blizzard storytelling, vectoring us into the next 20 years of adventure - we call this storyline The Worldsoul Saga!

This saga is something that can't be contained by any single expansion, but is built to be played out through multiple expansions over the next several years of Warcraft. having said that, the team is working on multiple ways to deliver it a little faster, though they won't get into that this BlizzCon. Given the scale of this monster, the team has decided to change things up today, instead of debuting the next expansion by itself, they've decided to give us a glimpse at the next three expansion sets! ARE YOU READY BLIZZCON?!

The first part of the World Soul Saga, and our tenth expansion is called World of Warcraft: The War Within! This chapter will see us descend into the heart of Azeroth itself, exploring subterranean cultures, the Earthen and the Nerubians.

The second part will be called World of Warcraft: Midnight, where we will be retuning to the old worlds of Quel'Thalas, where the Void have invaded Azeroth to snuff out the Sunwell. Players will help reunify scattered Elven tribes and make our stand with the Light to banish the forces of darkness forever.

Of course, this is Azeroth - things may not go according to plan. This leads us to the third part, World of Warcraft: The Last Titan! In this chapter, we return to the wintery lands of Northrend, at Ulduar we bear witness to the return of Titans to Azeroth - uncovering a vast conspiracy stretching across the history of the world, challenging everything we thought we knew about the titans, their intentions, and the true nature of Azeroth... and its called Silithus. When it comes to WoW's storytelling... we ain't screwin around!

Whether you are a current player or returning, now is the time to come home! Pull on your boots, pick up a broadsword, and get in the fight! Azeroth needs its defenders, and in a few moments we'll get a deeper look at the War Within, but first, a reminder that sometimes very epic things can begin with small heartfelt moments - this is one. Now, let the Worldsoul Saga begin!

I guess we're not ignoring that sword anymore...

Now, let's talk about The War Within. As we explore beneath the surface, we'll find an ancient Nerubian civilization led by a familiar face - Xall'atath, a harbinger of the Void. The last time we saw her, she promised we'd meet again... and she was right. While Anduin, Thrall, and others share the same visions emanating from the heart of the world, but others see something quite different.

The fate of our world rests upon the edge of a knife, and our battle lies deep within. Alongside beautiful unique underground zones, there will be challenging dungeons and raids, as well as new features.

Delves are a variety of bitesized experiences for 1-5 players offering endgame rewards, and a familiar character will even be willing to fight beside us.

For altaholics, Warbands will treat all of our characters as family, sharing features like banks across your account.

Finally, a new layer of customization for class specs with hero talents - going down the path of the Dark Ranger, Farseer, and more.

And we'll get to make new allies in the Earthen Dwarves, as a new allied race!

BlizzCon 2023

Other Games

The World Soul Saga

The War Within

Comment by shimonuHope for best expect the worst? :)Comment by AggraxWhenever Phil Spencer is on stage people should be asking "When is he going to stop talking and leave?"Comment by HekaziI need a t-shirt that says "I got baited by Phil Spencer - Blizzcon 2023"Comment by tgrhwkeI think this is the first time that World of Warcraft has not been featured first at BlizzCon.Comment by vaedrunWhy kickoff with this boring Overwatch e-sport #$%^ no one gives a f about?Comment by Bahska"Best community ever"
Ybarra must not have to deal with leavers in m+ ;)Comment by shimonuI think this is the first time that World of Warcraft has not been featured first at BlizzCon.Comment by TromellWhy kickoff with this boring Overwatch e-sport #$%^ no one gives a f about?Comment by AlaskanDruidI think this is the first time that World of Warcraft has not been featured first at BlizzCon.Comment by tryst98Why kickoff with this boring Overwatch e-sport #$%^ no one gives a f about?Comment by Renevant99YOU CAN PET THE DOGS, BTWComment by yager05WoW not being first or even second (BLASPHEMY!) is outragous.
Edit: NOT EVEN THIRD. Disgusting.Comment by MungadaiIncoming Classic Cataclysm+ mobile ARG game that instead of actual loot drops it's bosses drop awesome loot boxes that you can open with a key you can buy for $5.99, with a unique level up systems where you have to earn Deathwing Coins that are limited to 3 a week unless you buy the $89 Super Battlepass Subscription with 2% coin acquisition boosts and a completely new and separate currency that you use to access exclusive FOMO content!Comment by Godest88What a snoozefest, is this what they open with Zzzz?Comment by warlocktank"Best community ever"
Ybarra must not have to deal with leavers in m+ ;)Comment by Lornaaget the the f'ing point about WoW stuff! I don't give a f*** about Hearthstone, gimme WoW stuff or get off the stage!Comment by warlocktanktoo much overwatch and hearthstone. zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzComment by Sundercatlook out hearthstone players, they told the overwatch people they were getting coop tooComment by Lornaa...........................Comment by LornaaIt's got nothing to do with Warcraft FML