Blizzard Entertainment

Within the jungles of Stranglethorn Vale, distant drums beat in an ancient ritual, calling forth the Blood God, Hakkar to the ancient troll city of Zul’Gurub. Beyond the jungle, ancient emerald dragons rise, the insidious Silithid begin to swarm, and perhaps the most dangerous sport of all gets underway: the Stranglethorn Vale Fishing Extravaganza.

Zul’Gurub

Deep within the jungles of Stranglethorn, an ancient troll city full of untold peril awaits. Do you have what it takes to delve into its mysteries? Assemble a band of hardy explorers and make your way to Zul’Gurub a max-level, 20-player raid instance with 120 new rare and epic items to procure from its verdant tree-lined avenues and lost temples.

Raid Bosses: 13
Level: 60
Location: ...

It’s time for the Outland Inn-vitational! Taking place on April 21, from 9:00 a.m. to 2:00 p.m. PT, the Outland Invitational will split 20 well-known Hearthstone personalities evenly into two groups—the Feisty Fiends and the Salty Satyrs!

The Outland Inn-vitational will use a new format we’re calling Demon Hunter Duel-fest, where both teams play against each other through 4 rounds of best-of-three matches. Each player will represent one of the ten classes and play as that same class in every match. However, on rounds 2 and 4, one full team will play as the Demon Hunter!

Here is how Demon Hunter Duel-fest scoring works:

• The winner of each best-of-three match will earn points for their team.
• Winning a match ...

To help protect the health and safety of players, staff, and partners, the 2020 Arena World Championship (AWC) Battle for Azeroth season will be held entirely online.

This program was originally planned to culminate in a multi-region LAN tournament this summer. Unfortunately, with this move to online-only play, this kind of international tournament cannot be hosted due to differences in regional server ping.

We are determined, however, to make our online events awesome for everyone. To that end, we will be making format changes to our originally scheduled tournaments to ensure that we get our fix of incredible PvP action while competitive integrity is maintained.

The new AWC Battle for Azeroth season will consist of three major stages.

• The AWC Cups – There will be eight open-registra...

Focus your beams, prime your sticky bombs, and get ready to glide into the Echo Showdown. To celebrate the introduction of the new damage hero, Echo, and to give players a chance to show off their skills with this advanced evolutionary combat robot, we’re hosting a tournament that’s open to everyone! 

Tournament Details 

• Signups begin April 14 and extend until April 17. Matches will be held on April 18 and 19 PDT using the GameBattles tournament platform.  
  • Day one (April 18th) matches will begin in EU at 3:00 AM PDT and NA at 1:00 PM PDT 
  • Day two (April 19th) matches will begin in EU at 3:00 AM PDT and NA at 1:00 PM PDT 
• Participating teams will ALWAYS be required have an Echo in play. Tri-shot your hardest, we want to see what you’ve got! 
• Overwatch League and Contenders players will be eligible to compete, though only two can play on a tea...

Celebrate the arrival of Overwatch’s newest hero, Echo! Now through April 20, earn unique, Echo-themed rewards by watching streams on Twitch.

• WATCH TO EARN – Earn special Echo-themed cosmetics by watching Twitch streams
• FLASH OPS: ECHO SHOWDOWN - Compete for $50,000 in prizing
• ECHOED ORIGINS - Learn more about Echo and her creator, Dr. Mina Liao

WATCH TO EARN

Unlock Echo-themed rewards by watching Twitch channels streaming in the Twitch Overwatch game category. Tune in to any Twitch streamer while they’re playing Overwatch now through April 20 to earn six Echo spra...

You're minding your business beneath a friendly Tower when an enemy Hero attacks. Instead of helping, though, your Tower keeps attacking minions!

“Personally, I’ve never really felt safe under my own towers,” says Kevin Gu, a developer on the Heroes team. “Which is strange, considering there are literally cannons right next to you!”

It's not a good feeling being a friendly structure’s second or third priority when it’s your first. That’s why the second Nexus Anomaly, A Call for Help, is hitting the live servers with changes that make both Towers and Cores more reliable teammates, featuring unique abilities that make them defensive forces to be reckoned with.

Experience Globes, our first Nexus Anomaly, went so well that the team is keeping it in the game permanently; the same is possible for A Call for Help, though it’s also possible that these changes will only last a Season. A full breakdown of the changes may be found ...

At the heart of the Maw lies Torghast, Tower of the Damned, a cursed otherworldly prison where the wickedest souls in the universe are locked away. Highly replayable and inspired by roguelike games, heroes are invited to explore its ever-changing halls and chambers and do battle with the minions of the Jailer, Torghast’s vile ruler. Those who brave its trials can claim legendary treasures and help free the heroic spirits wrongfully trapped within.

The Torghast experience is in a true alpha state. It is not yet feature complete and many design decisions are still being made. Due to our desire to get pointed feedback on class-specific Anima Powers, we are only testing a few classes at this time. When it becomes available to play on the alpha, the following classes will be available for testing: Demon Hunter, Mage, Priest, and Warlock. We will keep you updated on when other classes are introduced.

Torghast is an otherworldly place, ...

It began with a crack. A seeping wound through which the Raven Lord drew beings of the Dark Nexus to serve his nefarious will. Though the Raven Lord was defeated, the crack remained. It widened. Spiderwebbed. A drip became a flow, and the flow became a flood, chaos and hatred spilling across the Nexus, threatening to defile it forever.

Some, like the noble Protoss heroes Tassadar and Fenix, journeyed into the rift, risking their sanity to slow the corruption. Others, drawn by the outpouring of power, sought to harness it. Deathwing soared into the violent heart of the Dark Nexus intent on gorging himself and waging a war of conquest. As with Tassadar and Fenix, contact with the turbulent forces found within transformed the fearsome black dragon forever.

Will the snarling overflow of Dark Nexus energies be stopped, reversed, or turned to Deathw...

Our next Heroes of the Storm patch is live and brings a new Dark Nexus II event, new skins and mounts, along with a Tassadar rework and more! Read on for more information.

NOTE: Orange text indicates a change between PTR and Live notes.

Quick Navigation:

• Nexus Anomaly
• General
• Collection
• ...

Hearthstone Grandmasters is back in action for 2020! Season 1 kicks off globally on Friday, April 17, and will run every Friday, Saturday and Sunday through June 7. Not only will the best Hearthstone players in the world be battling it out every weekend live on YouTube Gaming, but you can also catch the new Demon Hunter class in competitive play for the first time! 

Seven new comp...

Following three exciting Masters Tour events in 2019 in Las Vegas, Seoul, and Bucharest, seven players proved to be the best in their respective regions and earned a promotion to Grandmasters.  With the imminent launch of Grandmasters 2020 Season 1, we are excited to introduce the newest Grandmasters competing for a spot at the Hearthstone World Championship this fall.

Americas

Guillermo “Empanizado” Tolosa, Mexico

Ever since joining Team Mexico in the 2017 H...

We’re back, dungeon-runners! The Mythic Dungeon International (MDI) is coming to YouTube beginning April 11. There have been some major changes ...

Since the introduction of Map Pools late last year and Hero Pools in early March, we’ve heard a lot of great feedback from players on both of these systems, including what they like about them and what they find confusing or unclear. Based on that, we’ll be making some changes to both systems starting next week. Here’s what’s in store.

Unifying the Hero Pools

We’ve received a lot of helpful feedback since Hero Pools came to Competitive Play that the system was achieving our goal of shaking up the meta from week to week—but we’ve also heard that some aspects of the system are confusing or unclear, including why certain heroes or roles are rotated each week, or why the exact number of heroes available is inconsistent from week to week. In addition, having separate Hero Pools for Competitive Play and the Overwatch League in the same week led to a confusing or disjointed experience for players who follow the League.

Starting April 1...

When Sylvanas Windrunner pierces the veil between life and death, you and your allies are pulled into the Maw, where the most wicked are damned to suffer for eternity. Yet Azeroth’s Champions are able to escape and soon make their way to the noble Kyrian in Bastion. Long has it been since a soul has been sent to their gleaming realm, and the locals are astonished by the arrival of a living mortal. However, it quickly becomes apparent that underneath Bastion’s glistening veneer lies unrest: The Kyrian’s anima—the soul-born essence that fuels their eternity of service—is on the verge of being completely depleted.

Before you can help them—and make them take your warnings of Sylvanas and the horrible truth of the Maw seriously—you must prove your worthiness as an aspirant and overcome all trials to earn your Kyrian wings by Ascending.

Unsure if you truly have moved on from the world of the living? We understand that this new reality may be difficult t...

Pop quiz, hotshot: are the setting and story of StarCraft part of the military sci-fi, space opera, or sci-fi horror genres? If you answered, “All three!” then congratulations—you really know your science fiction subgenres. There’s a lot going on in the StarCraft universe, and it’s not always easy to keep it all straight. If you’re looking for a refresher—or just a simple way to explain StarCraft’s story to your friends—this blog has you covered.

Part 1: The Distant Past

Eons ago, the xel’naga arrived in our galaxy and kindled life on countless worlds throughout the Milky Way. Their goal: wait for two species to achieve what the xel’naga called “purity of essence” and “purity of form,” and help them ascend into a new form of life which would take the xel’naga’s place, thus restarting the cycle.

The xel’naga called this the Infinite Cycle. Unfortunately, that turned out to be a bit of a misnomer.

Amon, one of the xel’naga, resolved to break the cyc...

ASHES OF OUTLAND IS NOW LIVE!

Outland has been razed by an unstoppable force for destruction known as the Rusted Legion! Now, the denizens scavenge to survive in the ashes of the war-torn realm. The Black Temple stands as the last bastion of civilization, where the self-proclaimed lord of Outland, Illidan Stormrage, and his army of Demon Hunters fight to take back their world.

Journey beyond the Dark Portal and enter the fray—Ashes of Outland is now live worldwide!

New Class: Demon Hunter

The ...

Our next Heroes of the Storm patch has just hit the Public Test Realm and will be available for playtesting until the week of April 13, PDT. As always, if you encounter any bugs during your PTR play sessions, please stop by the PTR Bug Report forum to let us know about your experiences.

Quick Navigation:

• Nexus Anomaly
• ...

In light of the ongoing global COVID-19 situation, we have decided to hold both Masters Tour Jönköping and the next Masters Tour in Asia-Pacific online to ensure the health and safety of all players and staff. To maintain the global integrity and fairness for all competitors, Masters Tour Online: Jönköping will still take place June 12 – 14 during Central European Time, while Masters Tour Online: Asia-Pacific will take place July 16 – 19 during Korea Standard Time.

The Masters Tour is built around the principal of a global community of players coming together to compete, and the relationships forged at each event are core to Hearthstone esports. While combating the current health crisis has required these events to be held remotely this online structure is the exception. We will keep tracking the global situation and are excited to hopefully get back to coming together in-person for both Masters Tour Montreal and Masters Tour...

This year’s Archives event brings deadly new modifiers to your favorite missions, challenging you to demonstrate your tactical finesse in Rialto, King’s Row, and Havana. Looking for a story recap before you dive into the action? We’ve got you covered.

SPOILERS ahead for the Retribution, Uprising, and Storm Rising missions!

Retribution

Eight years ago, an explosive attack by the terrorist organization Talon left an Overwatch facility in Rome devastated and took dozens of agents’ lives. Since Overwatch itself was unable to retaliate in an official capacity, Gabriel Reyes, head of the organization’s covert ops division, Blackwatch, took it upon himself to enact revenge. With a strike team composed of former Deadlock Gang member–turned-Blackwatch-agent Jesse McCree, cybernetic ninja Genji Shimada, and geneticist Moira O’Deorain, Reyes set out to pursue Talon. The target: influential businessman and high-ranking...

In light of the ongoing global health risks associated with in-person gatherings, we are cancelling official Fireside Gatherings for the near future and disabling the ability to create public events. Additionally, any existing public events will be converted to private events.

We do, however, want individuals at home to have an opportunity to partake in the upcoming Pre-Release weekend, so we’ll be keeping private event functionality intact. Players can register their own one-person event to enjoy opening Ashes of Outland card packs the weekend of April 3–6.

Over the next week we’ll be implementing this transition of currently scheduled events to private status. Thank you all, innkeepers and patrons, for understanding.

Private Fireside Gatherings will:

• Be eligible to receive Nemsy Necrofizzle if they fulfill all hosting prerequi...