BlizzCon Opening Ceremony liveblog

The opening ceremony will begin at 11 a.m. Pacific and we will be liveblogging it right here. Currently, something is concealed in Hall C, typical of game or expansion announcements. In the past, once the announcement has been made, the black curtains are removed. No doubt, today's opening ceremony will contain something exciting.

Updates will be in reverse-chronological order, with newest updates at the top of the page. If you only want the latest update, you can stay near the top. If you missed the beginning of the panel, scroll to the bottom.

11:52AM As a final note, the DirecTV stage with Mike Morhaime as a guest confirms he was speaking out against GamerGate during the introductions of the opening ceremony. The group is mentioned by name.

11:50AM Opening ceremony has concluded! We'll be here with key liveblogs all weekend. Thanks for reading!

11:50AM Titan rumors suggested a Destiny-like game set on Earth, using real world maps of real world locations. Overwatch is less Destiny, more Team Fortress 2. Locals are stylized rather than realistic, small maps rather than MMO-scale cities. Titan the MMO was almost certainly scrapped for Overwatch the team-based shooter.

11:48AM Phew, gameplay trailer ended. My keyboard is on fire.

11:48AM The longer this goes on, the more I think Blizzard decided Ironforge is on Earth. There's totally Warcraft dwarves in this thing.

11:48AM Maps are all on Overwatch's version of Earth. Egypt, Japan, and so on. Very stylized versions of the locales, not actual real world maps.

11:47AM Reinhardt with a warhammer and kickin' set of heavy armor.

11:47AM Bastion, a robot character ... with a pet bird of something? Mercy, an angel medic. They're showing off a TON of content for a brand new announcement. Widow(maker?), a sniper character. Zenyatta, a buddhist assassin? There's a LOT happening here.

11:45AM Hanzo, a hero with Japanese aesthetic using a bow and arrow. Reaper appears to be a bulletstorm. Giant gorilla-man. A dwarf, which looks to be like Team Fortress 2's engineer with Warcraft dwarves' Avatar ability. Things are happening faster than I can type!

11:44AM First hero shown blinks around the map. Second hero places turrets. Third is using a jetpack. Didn't manage to catch their names. Interestingly, first three heroes were all women. Very different from Warcraft's lack of them last year.

11:43AM "Would you guys like to see Overwatch?" Kaplan asks. Another trailer is playing. In-game environments. Egyptian-themed. Oddly similar to one of the new maps shown for Heroes of the Storm.

11:42AM Overwatch is a team-based shooter. Earlier comparison to Gearbox's in-development Battleborn seems appropriate.

11:41AM Metzen says the game is "nearer than you think." He's introducing Jeff Kaplan, game director of Overwatch, former director of World of Warcraft. Last we heard, Kaplan was on Titan. Overwatch is definitely remnants of Titan.

11:40AM Cross League of Legends with a Pixar film and you get the Overwatch cinematic.

11:38AM Action sequence of this cinematic is very much like Riot's League of Legends cinematics, or Gearbox's Battleborn.

11:37AM Characterization in this cinematic is reminding me of a super hero ensemble.

11:36AM We're seeing elements of the scrapped Titan in the opening of that trailer. Matches the rumors, anyway.

11:35AM Overwatch. Earth landscapes and locations shown. Guardians that secure global peace. Very diverse character design, reminiscent of a MOBA or TF2-style shooter.

11:34AM Metzen is getting jittery up there.

11:33AM "The wait ends right now."

11:33AM Metzen is saying it's been 17 years since Blizzard started a new adventure. He's about to announce a new IP it seems.

11:32AM He called out each game in series. Warcraft, Starcraft, Diablo, Hearthstone. From where I'm sitting, it seems that Diablo got the biggest pop.

11:31AM Metzen is giving a speech to the audience, crediting the players for 20 years of Warcraft and giving thanks. "Let's take a little role call. I'm going to assume most of you in here have played a little game called World of Warcraft."

11:29AM Chris Metzen is taking the stage! Here comes the living hype train.

11:29AM Archon mode is cooperative competitive. Two players controlling a single base.

11:28AM No need to own Wings of Liberty or Heart of the Swarm to play Legacy of the Void. New multiplayer units for all three races. "Yes, the Lurker is back."

11:27AM Reunite scattered Protoss tribes, command a Protoss ark ship in battle, Browder talks very fast.

11:26AM "My life for Aiur!" Palpable nerd chills.

11:26AM They're giving a glimpse of Legacy of the Void. The trailer is giving a bit of history of the Protoss/Zerg conflict -- how long they've been at war, how their coming was foretold. Now the Xel'naga are returning. They face an extinction event.

11:24AM StarCraft II: Legacy of the Void!

11:24AM Dustin Browder just took to the stage.

11:23AM Goblins vs. Gnomes launches next month? Did I hear that right?

11:22AM New cards include: Explosive Sheep and Annoy-o-Tron. Annoy-o-Tron is a 1/2 with Taunt and Divine Shield.

11:21AM The expansion appears to genuinely be called Goblins vs. Gnomes. "The explosive first expansion to Hearthstone." Over 120 new cards.

11:21AM Goblin versus Gnome Hearthstone expansion. This trailer is INCREDIBLE.

11:20AM "Hearthstone is going back to the very beginning of Warcraft." Talking about an old rivarly -- one embodying the fellowship of the Alliance, one the honor and resilience of the Horde.

11:19AM Hearthstone will launch for Android tablets this December. This was previously announced, but worth mentioning again.

11:18AM "This is our biggest BlizzCon yet." Mike Morhaime has introduced Jason Chayes, production director of Hearthstone.

11:17AM Heroes of the Storm closed beta begins January 13.

11:17AM Lost Vikings as a playable hero! Their ultimate is the three of them loading into a Viking longship.

11:17AM Sky Temple and Tomb of the Spider announced as new battlegrounds. Appear Uldum and Azjol-Nerub themed.

11:16AM Rolling a Heroes of the Storm trailer. They just introduced Thrall and Jaina as new playable heroes.

11:15AM "We have new things to share with you." Starting with Heroes of the Storm.

11:14AM FightForTheHorde.com and FightForTheAlliance.com are promotional sites for the Warcraft movie. Choose your faction!

11:13AM Morhaime is giving a general rundown of the BlizzCon competitions this weekend: talent, cosplay, esports, and so forth. They're rolling a promo reel for the esports tournaments. It's very shiny.

11:12AM Level 90 ETC will be performing once again tomorrow night. They're opening for Metallica.

11:11AM A theater in the convention center will be playing Blizzard cinematics and work-in-progress footage from the Warcraft movie.

11:10AM There will be a new charity pet in December to support the Red Cross and Ebola relief efforts.

11:09AM It's the 10th anniversary of World of Warcraft and the 20th anniversary of the Warcraft franchise but Morhaime says "the best is yet to come." BlizzCon will be screening the World of Warcraft documentary at BlizzCon. "Looking For Group" premieres at 5 pm on the main stage tomorrow.

11:07AM Morhaime gave his "thank you for coming" spiel. He says he wants to talk about something serious: speaking out against gamers hurting others online, bullying and making people miserable. "Redouble our efforts to be kind and respect one another."

11:04AM Mike Morhaime has just taken the stage!

11:02AM The opening ceremony is getting started! They're playing a Warcraft retrospective video for the 10 year anniversary. Clips of developers and executives talking about their development history alongside clips from every Warcraft game.

10:58AM Soon. (TM.)

10:50AM The livestream is playing on screens throughout the convention hall. They're really hyping this opening ceremony on the stream!

10:45AM 15 minutes until the show begins!