Do you have World of Warcraft questions you want to ask during BlizzConline? We’ve got you covered.
On Saturday, February 20 at 12:00 Noon PST (3:00 p.m. EST) at BlizzConline, the World of Warcraft Development Team will answer questions submitted by WoW players like you.
We’ve opened a forum thread for your questions, which we’ll collect until February 19.
If your question is selected, the Q&A host will use your character name and realm, so please make sure ...
Read moreTogether, in the Year of the Phoenix, we drove back the rusted legion in Ashes of Outland, graduated with top honors from Scholomance Academy, and conquered our fears of carnival rides (and ancient horrors of unspeakable evil) when Madness at the Darkmoon Faire set in.
We kicked off the year by overhauling our Ranked system, updating card packs to include duplicate protection, and introducing Hearthstone’s first new class since launch—the Demon Hunter.
Throughout the year we hosted several in-game events, including the Felfire Festival and Masquerade Ball. We released over a dozen balance updates between our major releases, and completely revamped our progression and rewards systems.
We brought Pirates, Elementals, and the Old Gods to Battlegrounds—along with multiplayer parties and Darkmoon Prizes! We told the origin stories for Jaina, Rexxar, Garrosh, Uther, and Anduin in Hearthstone Book of Heroes. We released Hearthstone’s fir...
Read moreWe’re excited to share details on the next two seasons of Hearthstone Grandmasters! Ahead of Season 1, we’ve made a few changes to the overall format and to the path to qualify for the 2021 World Championship. For the first seven weeks of each season, players will compete in individual Weekly Dual Tournaments (details below) to earn points based on total wins. Following the conclusion of Week 7, players will be ranked based on their total-points-earned to determine if they will advance to the Playoffs, survive to the next season, or be relegated out of Grandmasters. Be sure to catch the start of Season 1, only on YouTube, starting on April 9!
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Calling all outlaws, pariahs, and the nastiest of ne’er-do-wells—there’s a bounty out, and the time has come for you to collect. The newest Overwatch Arcade mode has arrived in accompaniment of the Lunar New Year and it’s here to stay. Hunt heads, earn points, and work your way up the scoreboard by proving yourself as the fiercest fighter in the fray. Who will emerge victorious and claim the crown of the apex predator?
Senior game designer Michael Liaw, one of the architects behind the murderous mayhem of the new Bounty Hunter game mode, talks iteration, collaboration, and how to rake in points by racking up kills.
Liaw, a senior game designer on the ecology team, began his industry journey catching bugs for designers to amend as quality assurance. Now, he spends his days crafting and fine-tuning the scores of enemies players will face in Overwatch 2.
“I went to college for computer programming and hoped I’d find my way into games, b...
Read moreWe’ve got some major changes on the horizon we’re ready to discuss. When card sets from Year of the Dragon (Rise of Shadows, Saviors of Uldum, Descent of Dragons, Demon Hunter Initiate) rotate to Wild at the launch of our next expansion, we’re planning to move the Basic and Classic sets to Wild as well to make way for the new Core Set!
After set rotation this year, Standard will include card sets from Year of the Phoenix (Ashes of Outland, Scholomance Academy, Madness at the Darkmoon Faire, Darkmoon Races Mini-Set), the next expansion, and the new Core Set!
The Core Set will be free for all players and will replace Basic and Classic in Standard as a curated selection of 235 cards intended to provide a modern coll...
Read moreLunar New Year kicks off in the Tavern on February 9 with a new Legendary Quest line, a fan favorite Tavern Brawl, and a special set of Three Kingdoms themed Hero skins in the shop!
Good fortune is coming your way! New Legendary quests rewarding a total of 9 card packs from Madness at the Darkmoon Faire and Scholomance Academy will be available from February 9 through February 23!
Cut down the traitorous Sire Denathrius and his court loyalists before their twisted plans unfold in an epic new raid—Castle Nathria.
Long has Sire Denathrius ruled the denizens of Revendreth as they harvested anima from prideful souls. But as drought and fear gripped the Shadowlands, Denathrius revealed his true loyalties. In defiance of his former Master, the noble Prince Renathal gathers his few remaining allies for a desperate mission to infiltrate Castle Nathria and remove Denathrius from power.
Raid bosses: 10
Difficulties: Raid Finder, Normal, Heroic, Mythic
Level: 60
Raid Finder Minimum Item Level: 170
December 8 – Normal and Heroic Difficulties
December 15 – Mythic and Rai...
From battling on the frontlines of the Omnic Crisis, to teaming up with a mega-sized murloc looking to sway an eternal conflict between two towering celestial beings--the realm-shattering magics of the Nexus causes Blizzard characters to often end up transplanted from their earthly homes to some new and surprising territory. One such journey was that of Aleksandra Zaryanova, aka Zarya.
With our 30th anniversary around the corner, now seems like a great time to track down the designers who brought Zarya to life in Overwatch and Heroes of the Storm and find out what goes into creating an iconic Hero that spans two worlds.
Zarya’s voyage from early concept to the destructive wielder-of-weaponry was a surprisingly smooth process for the Overwatc...
From battling on the frontlines of the Omnic Crisis, to teaming up with a mega-sized murloc looking to sway an eternal conflict between two towering celestial beings--the realm-shattering magics of the Nexus causes Blizzard characters to often end up transplanted from their earthly homes to some new and surprising territory. One such journey was that of Aleksandra Zaryanova, aka Zarya.
With our 30th anniversary around the corner, now seems like a great time to track down the designers who brought Zarya to life in Overwatch and Heroes of the Storm and find out what goes into creating an iconic Hero that spans two worlds.
Zarya’s voyage from early concept to the destructive wielder-of-weaponry was a surprisingly smooth process for the Overwatc...
The 19.4.1 patch, arriving on January 28, includes a change for Hysteria from the Darkmoon Races Mini-Set, balance adjustments for Duels, and a handful of game improvements!
Hysteria will be eligible for a full dust refund for 2 weeks after the 19.4.1 patch goe...
Read moreThere are a variety of collectibles available to be discovered in World of Warcraft and many ways to lay claim to these mounts pets and toys. Whether it's from defeating a rare boss, discovering hidden treasures, or building your reputation with a variety of groups, you're sure to expand your store of treasures. In this article, we've crossed the veil and set our sights on the Shadowlands.
There are many kinds of currencies used in Shadowlands. Here are just some of the types that you'll want to make sure you have at hand.
Preparing for the next year of competitive Hearthstone, we’ve listened to player feedback from all levels of competitive Hearthstone and are thrilled to announce improvements to Hearthstone Masters as well as details for the first Masters Tour of 2021!
As the primary entry point into the Masters program for most of our players, we have been looking at ways to not only expand the Qualifiers system but to better reward high-level consistency.
While assessing how to best improve the Qualifiers, one piece of community feedback has consistently stood out: expanding opportunities to earn invites to each Masters Tour. We are addressing this in three ways for Hearthstone Esports in 2021.
Below are the Arena leaderboards for November 1, 2020 - January 1, 2021. Arena rankings reflect players’ best 30 consecutive runs throughout a season. The players featured below have exhibited top-notch deckbuilding skills, in-the-moment decision making, and unyielding dedication to achieve a most noteworthy feat!
For an Arena run to be included in this season, its end time must have been between November 1, 2020 at 10:00 a.m. and January 1, 2021 at 9:59:59 a.m.
Dynamic ladder rankings are now also available for the Standard and Wild ladders.
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With a truly global new structure, the Mythic Dungeon International (MDI) is back for its most epic season to date!
MDI returns to YouTube this Friday, January 22, when top teams from around the world will face off to earn points towards advancing to the MDI Season 1 Global Finals and compete for their share of the $20,000 (USD) prize pool per cup. To make it to each cup, teams will need to prove themselves in Time Trials against more than 200 other teams, with the final eight teams advancing to each cup. Once all four cups have completed, the top six teams—based on total points—will advance to the Seaso...
Read moreThe 19.4 patch, releasing on January 21, includes the new Darkmoon Races Mini-Set, new Heroes and Minions for Battlegrounds, a Mid-Season Update for Duels, an Arena rotation, bug fixes, and more!
NEW BATTLEGROUNDS HEROES
Tickatus
Players with Battlegrounds Perks will have early access to these new Heroes before they’re formally released on February 4.
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Read moreStrap yourself in and mount up at the starting line for the most perilous and high-octane competition in all of Azeroth: The Darkmoon Races! Doesn’t matter if it rockets, rides, gallops, or glides—it’s all fair game at the Faire once the starting wand is waved. The only rule is getting to the finish line in one piece!
The Darkmoon Races Mini-Set, launching worldwide on January 21, consists of 4 Legendary cards, 1 Epic card (x2), 14 Rare cards (x2), and 16 Common cards (x2)—which can all be obtained from Madness at the Darkmoon Faire card packs! And, for the first time ever, the entire 66 card set is available for purchase from the in-game or web shop for $14.99 or 2000 Gold!
The 19.4 patch, launching on January 21, brings the first-ever Mid-Season Update for Duels! All players’ Duels ratings will be reset for Casual and Heroic, the Darkmoon Races Mini-Set will be added to the pool of eligible cards you can use to build your 15-card starter deck, and each class will gain access to one new Hero Power and three...
Read moreNestled in the shadow of Hanamura Castle, Kanezaka is a quiet area that straddles tradition and modernity. Weathered wooden buildings and a Shinto shrine guarded by solemn stone foxes border the bustle of a high-rise cityscape that trickles into the town proper. Kanezaka is full of whimsical detail and small, subtly hidden homages to the Overwatch team. Players can cuddle up at the cat café, drop by the seedy local bar, or gleefully obliterate some claw machines at the Pachimari FunFun! Arcade.
Catch up with some of Kanezaka’s developers, including senior lighting artist Fabien Christin, senior artist Thiago Klafke, senior level designer Morten Hedegren, and associate art director Dion Rogers, as they talk map design, inspirations, and what it was like creating a map entirely through remote collaboration and Zoom-jamming.
What games or other media inspire you? Did anything specific inspire you as you were working ...
Read moreReady your shuriken, nock your arrows, and get ready to brawl in the Overwatch League Kanezaka Community Tournament. To celebrate the launch of the new Kanezaka map, and to give players a chance to show off their skills, Overwatch League is hosting a tournament that’s open to everyone!
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