BlizzCon 2026 opened on September 12 with a full-portfolio dump: Diablo's future, a same-day Warcraft III expansion, World of Warcraft Forever dated for November 4, a StarCraft shooter on a long clock, and busy near-term plans for Overwatch and Hearthstone. This article is the opening snapshot. For the running list and later follow-ups, use the BlizzCon 2026 hub.
Why this opening matters
Blizzard did not only talk about next season. The opening mixed:
- Today: Warcraft III Reforged: Forsaken Kingdom
- This year: World of Warcraft Forever (beta September 17, launch November 4), Diablo IV season, Midnight Eclipse, Overwatch hero and map work, Hearthstone's new expansion systems, Heroes of the Storm Xal'atath
- 2027+: Amazon class, Wrath of the Lich King Remix, The Last Titan, Hearthstone Monk
- Long horizon: StarCraft open-world shooter (2030) and Diablo V: Sanctuary Falls (Spring 2029)
Diablo
On the near side, Diablo IV gets a new season with Deckard Cain back in Sanctuary. Baal, Mephisto, and Diablo are all involved, and players embrace one of them for power. Diablo IV is also headed to Nintendo Switch 2, and the Amazon class is dated for 2027 with Bow and Javelin, the latter being a new weapon for Diablo IV. On the far side, Blizzard announced Diablo V: Sanctuary Falls for Spring 2029, plus a Diablo animated series on Netflix.
Heroes of the Storm
Something that no one expected was an update from The Nexus. The last hero added was Hogger, back in December 2020. After almost six years, Heroes of the Storm is getting a new hero in the form of the World of Warcraft BBEG (Big Bad Evil Guy/Girl), Xal'atath. Xal'atath is planning to try to take over the Nexus on September 28th, 2026. She will also be available on the PTR on September 14th, 2026.
StarCraft
For fans of the StarCraft games and Space RTS genre, the bubble got popped with a non-RTS StarCraft game. Although not much has been announced yet, the game is described as an open-world shooter. Although not an announcement for StarCraft 3, which a lot of us hoped for, it will get us back into space in a familiar universe. The Galaxy is harsh and unforgiving, but you can shoot your way out! We will need to wait a bit for the StarCraft open-world shooter, since it will be released in 2030.
Overwatch
For Overwatch we were promised a large hero injection with 10 new heroes, the first one being Doctrine coming later this year in the new season. Roadhog and Sombra are getting reworked in that season as well, and unexpectedly, Sombra will now be a Support. Of course with a new season come new customizations as well as a new map. The other surprise was Questwatch, a live Overwatch tabletop RPG session the next day, DMed by Matthew Mercer. Cassidy, also voiced by Mercer, leads the party on a mission.
Warcraft III
Probably the least expected was a new expansion after more than 20 years. Warcraft III Reforged: Forsaken Kingdom goes live today on September 12th, 2026. A new campaign with familiar faces, but also new heroes to play during new maps and story.
Hearthstone
The most new information during the opening was for Hearthstone for sure. Reign of the Black Empire, a new expansion with new cards and more story and lore. Reign of the Black Empire also adds Aberrations (a new minion type), Assemble (combine two cards into one), and a Monk class in March 2027. Also coming with the expansion is 2v2, probably the most chaotic Hearthstone mode yet.
World of Warcraft: Retail
After Liquid won another Race to World First just a week ago in the new 12.1 raid: The Venomous Abyss, we already got some information about the next patch: 12.2 titled World of Warcraft: Midnight: Eclipse. Blizzard also gave some very sparse news on the next expansion World of Warcraft: The Last Titan, which is supposed to hit in 2027. For The Last Titan we are going back to the cold tundra and snowy peaks of Northrend. Because the next expansion is going back to Northrend, we are getting Wrath of the Lich King Remix in 2027.
World of Warcraft Forever
World of Warcraft is changing, rapidly. Alongside Retail and Classic, Blizzard is launching a new version of their star MMORPG. World of Warcraft: Forever sits as its own game path, capped at level 60. We got a sneak peek at some new zones coming to WoW: Forever, which includes a zone home to a new race: Skyborne. But Blizzard was not done. World of Warcraft: Forever is not coming out in a few years. Although it comes with new zones, new talents, a new race, new story and lore and over a thousand new quests, it is coming out this year. Yep, you read that correctly. World of Warcraft: Forever will be here on November 4th, 2026. But the beta will already be here next week, Thursday September 17th, 2026.
