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The Overwatch World Cup is back for 2017
The Overwatch World Cup is back for its second go-round, this time inviting players from more countries, featuring more games and promising even more live events. The world of eSports has continued to expand since the inaugural event last fall, and that's why things are kicking off now to get ready for a showdown at BlizzCon 2017. Right now, skilled players (the top 100 in each country) need to make sure they represent well enough on average that their country is in the top 32 by the time phase two starts in 25 days.
Sombra is officially Overwatch's new hacker hero
If you didn't see Sombra coming, maybe you haven't been paying much attention to Overwatch lately. Onstage during the Blizzcon keynote, Blizzard president and CEO Mike Morhaime described her as a stealthy offensive infiltrator who can hack an enemy's abilities. Blizzard has dropped a few other details as well. She has an EMP attack that can shut down numerous enemies at once, for instance. Additionally, she can camouflage herself, making her harder to see. If you're lucky enough to be at Blizzcon this weekend she'll be playable on the show floor. Everyone else? You're going to have to wait.
'Overwatch Origins Edition' will be on PC, PS4 and XB1 next year (update)
Until now only a PC version had been announced for Blizzard's first all-new game in years, but today a splash page on its Battle.net website promises it will come to PlayStation 4 and Xbox One. Overwatch Origins Edition is expected to arrive "on or before" June 21st, 2016, although the link to BuyOverwatch.com isn't working yet. The listing itself has very little information other than promising "all digital content included with Origins Edition will be available by launch," but an eagle-eyed Reddit poster spotted what may be a full listing of items on a videogame retailer's website. The shooter has generated hype with a public beta and many Twitch streaming sessions, but for now it's just one more reason (besides that Warcraft movie trailer) to keep an eye on BlizzCon over the next few days. Update: Overwatch is up for pre-order at BuyOverwatch.com. The standard edition costs $40 and is only available for PC. The Origins Edition is $60 and is confirmed for PS4, Xbox One and PC. There's also a Collector's Edition (PS4, Xbox One and PC) for $130.
WoW Moviewatch: Starcraft Evacuation
Okay, obviously this isn't Warcraft -- heck, I'm not even sure we can classify it as machinima. But this is the second place winner from the 2014 BlizzCon movie contest, so I thought you guys might like to see it. Starcraft: Evacuation is a short film by Youtuber Peter Stroll about a small Terran mining settlement that is under attack -- the story is relatively straightforward. What's pretty cool about this particular movie is that sure, there's live action, but there's also some visual effects included that are surprisingly well done for an amateur effort. My only lament is that the film cuts off just when I wanted to see what was going to happen next. Maybe we'll see a sequel in time for the next BlizzCon? Let's hope so. Interested in the wide world of machinima? We have new movies every weekday here on WoW Moviewatch! Have suggestions for machinima we ought to feature? Toss us an email at moviewatch@wowinsider.com.
Perfect Ten: Looking back at the biggest MMO news of 2014
Well, my chums, here we are at the tail-end of 2014, having achieved all of our goals and new year's resolutions. Even better, we've survived what's turned out to be one of the wildest, rockiest, and most exciting years of MMO news in recent memory. This was the year of high-profile game launches, even more popular expansions, layoffs, and some epic-level studio face-palming decisions. It's easy to sit here and say that we predicted everything that was going to happen this year, but c'mon, you have to admit that you were surprised by at least one or two events in this industry. It's incredibly difficult to sum up the biggest news of the year without coming to grips with the fact that many stories aren't one-and-done; a lot of what I'm going to be talking about in this list happened over the course of weeks or months and still may not be fully over. That's how news stories are sometimes!
BlizzCon 2014 interviews feature Cory Stockton, Alex Afrasiabi
Just in case you missed it in the madness of Warlords of Draenor's launch, WoW Insider had the opportunity to interview not one but two developers this year at BlizzCon 2014. Both interviews were posted earlier this week and are well worth the look -- and may have been missed in the flood of Warlords expansion announcements and updates. For those with more of a bent towards lore, the interview with World of Warcraft's Creative Director Alex Afrasiabi focused on the story behind the expansion, including discussion on alternate universes, some surprising stories about Garrosh Hellscream and the development of Warlords, and even an interesting tidbit about alternate Azeroth. For those with more of a technical bent and burning questions about Warlords of Draenor's features and content, check out our interview with Lead Game Designer Cory Stockton. In the interview, we take an in-depth look at garrisons and their development, the new look of Warcraft's professions, and some cool new things to look forward to with transmogrification, as well as a few other fun features of the latest expansion.
Garrisons, professions and more with Cory Stockton
Warlords of Draenor has arrived, with tons of new content, quests, dungeons, raids, zones, and of course garrisons! During BlizzCon 2014, we sat down with Lead Game Designer Cory Stockton to discuss the development and design behind the new feature, in addition to a closer look at the changes to professions and profession design in Warlords of Draenor. But what's a talk with Mumper without a little transmog talk thrown into the mix -- and it appears we've got more transmog changes on the distant horizon that we'd originally thought.
BlizzCon 2014: Art gallery celebrates Blizzard's past and present
The Blizzard art gallery on display at BlizzCon is always worth a visit for convention-goers, but this year's gallery was a special treat highlighting the history and development of Warcraft and World of Warcraft. If you were looking for a trip down memory lane, this was the place to be: along with early concept art and design documents, a monitor cycled through screenshots of WoW's past, including an early image of WoW running on the Warcraft III engine, the first Molten Core raid and the first Blackwing Lair raid (the which goes about as well as you'd expect). After the opening ceremony announced Overwatch, an empty part of the gallery filled with Overwatch concept art and attracted most of the attention away from Warcraft's past... but it was fun to venture back into Blizzard's past before heading into Blizzard's future. For more art, check out the full gallery below.
Last Week on Massively: BlizzCon 2014
This post originally appeared on Massively from Editor-in-Chief Brianna Royce. At the end of every week, we round up the best and most popular news stories, exclusive features, and insightful columns published on Massively and then present them all in one convenient place. If you missed a big MMO story last week, you've come to the right post. BlizzCon 2014 dominated the weekend in all corners of the Joystiq network, Massively included. Blizzard not only announced OFPS Overwatch but spilled details on Hearthstone's upcoming expansion, Diablo III, Heroes of the Storm, the Warcraft movie, and the World of Warcraft Warlords of Draenor expansion launching this coming Thursday. We've rounded up all the best bits from Massively and WoW Insider right here! Liveblogging the opening ceremonies of BlizzCon 2014 World of Warcraft Q&A liveblog World of Warcraft items, class changes liveblog Blizzard announces new charity pet for ebola relief efforts Warcraft movie panel liveblog Blizzard takes on superheroes with Overwatch Live blogging the Overwatch panel Overwatch hands-on gameplay impressions The heroes of Overwatch Hearthstone: Goblins vs. Gnomes expansion announced Hearthstone: Goblins vs. Gnomes cards and mechanics Diablo III previews Season 2 Heroes of the Storm panel Read on for a look at the rest of this week's top MMO stories.
Alex Afrasiabi on Warlords, Garrosh, and alternate Azeroth
Warlords of Draenor is a little over 24 hours away from launch! Although Warlords of Draenor is seemingly a step in a different story direction for the franchise, it has never been in more capable hands. BlizzCon may be over, but we had the opportunity during the convention to sit down and chat with World of Warcraft's Creative Director Alex Afrasiabi about the new expansion, Garrosh Hellscream, Warcraft's creative direction, and much more.
Watch the full World of Warcraft: Looking for Group documentary
You might have missed the "other" Warcraft movie reveal at BlizzCon this past week, but we're here to make sure that you don't let it slip by completely. Blizzard premiered a special World of Warcraft documentary at the convention called Looking for Group, and you can watch the flick in its entirety right now. Looking for Group examines the phenomenon of the MMO's creation and operation over the past 10-plus years. According to the studio, the documetary will allow you to "explore the history of WoW with its creators, and journey into corners of Blizzard and the WoW community you've never seen before." Grab your Michael Jackson comment popcorn and watch it after the break!
BlizzCon 2014: Diablo 3 adds Ruins of Sescheron, new items
Diablo 3 fans may not have as much excitement from BlizzCon this year as Hearthstone fans or StarCraft 2 fans, but there are a few changes coming as Blizzard continues to refine the Diablo experience to maximize fun and minimize the frustrating grind that characterized the game at launch. Though this year's panels spent the majority of their time talking about the development process that brought Diablo 3 to the place it is now, there were some hints at the future, new monsters, new items, and an early demo of a new area, the Ruins of Sescheron (which you may remember from its brief appearance in Diablo 2: Lord of Destruction). As to a new Diablo expansion, the devs refused to give a yes or no answer, but we live can live in hope, right? In the meanwhile, check out our galleries for a look at what's coming, or keep reading for a rundown of upcoming changes.
BlizzCon 2014: World of Warcraft Q&A liveblog
Get ready to talk Warcraft! The last World of Warcraft panel of BlizzCon is the Q&A, where BlizzCon attendees can pose any questions they like to the development team. Here's what you can expect: Members of the World of Warcraft dev team tank your questions about the game's lore, zones, dungeons, raids, and more. This free-for-all panel always has some interesting moments, so stay tuned for this year's Q&A, live from the BlizzCon floor. The panel kicks off at 3:30 PM PST (6:30 PM EST), so stay tuned!
BlizzCon 2014: Diablo III previews Season 2
BlizzCon attendees and remote viewers got a first look at Season 2 for Diablo III, and now it's your turn to do so as well. The second season, which starts public realm testing "soon," will add new and beefed-up legendary items, a trio of new conquests, and boots and pants for the level 70 Conqueror's transmorgrification set for those willing to reroll a character. Blizzard also announced a new batch of earnable rewards: "Players who participate in the season will also receive an exclusive full banner set, including shape, pattern, sigil, and accent. Each piece of this set is unlocked by acquiring seasonal achievement points." Like Season 1, Season 2 will not be coming to consoles due to their occasionally offline nature.
Starcraft 2: Legacy of the Void to debut as standalone game
Like two High Templar Protoss merging to form an Archon, the third installment of the StarCraft 2 saga, StarCraft 2: Legacy of the Void, will be comprised of two identities: that of an expansion, and that of a standalone game. In non-game jargon speak, this means that although Legacy of the Void will act as a continuation of the series' plot up to now, you'll be able to purchase and enjoy it regardless of whether or not you own Wings of Liberty and Heart of the Swarm. Comparing the new game to an Archon unit is more accurate than you may think though, as the game will feature something called "Archon Mode," where two players cooperatively manage a single base as they face off against another duo of players doing the same. Blizzard revealed the news during the opening ceremony for BlizzCon 2014, which is happening this weekend in Anaheim. [Image: Blizzard]
Hearthstone: Goblins vs. Gnomes cards and mechanics
Hearthstone announcing its expansion, Goblins vs. Gnomes, is no surprise. The fact that it releases in one month is a surprise. At BlizzCon this afternoon, Hearthstone Game Director Eric Dodds discussed some of the expansion's new gameplay developments in their Fireside Chat. You can see all of the newly revealed cards in our gallery embedded at the end of this post or follow along to learn about the new Mech minions, Piloted Mechs, Spare Parts, and new class cards. Mechs Goblins vs. Gnomes introduces a new minion type: Mechs. Not only are many of the new minions Mechs, but a number of old minions will be placed in this new category, too. The Harvest Golem was offered as an example along with the Alarm-o-Bot and Mechanical Dragonlings. There are enough new Mechs included in the expansion that you could, if you wanted to, build a full Mech Deck.
Heroes of the Storm's closed beta starts January 13
Heroes of the Storm's closed beta starts January 13th. So sayeth the Blizz at today's BlizzCon. "We've very much enjoyed sharing the Technical Alpha with you, and your feedback over the past eight months has helped us make Heroes even more epic," Mike Morhaime said during today's opening festivities. "Thank you, as always, to everyone who has shared their thoughts on the game with us thus far. We can't wait to hear more from all of you as we move toward Closed Beta testing in January." If you're looking for an invite, make sure you opt in to the HotS testing via your Battle.net account management beta profile settings page. BlizzCon returns to Anaheim during the weekend of November 7th and 8th, 2014! Whether you're anticipating World of Warcraft's Warlords of Draenor expansion or the latest news from Diablo III, Hearthstone, and Heroes of the Storm, we aim to have it covered!
BlizzCon Warcraft Movie panel liveblog
The Warcraft Movie panel will begin at 2:15pm Pacific, and we'll be liveblogging it right here. We've heard that we may see some footage during the panel, and we're pretty excited to see what they've got. Duncan Jones and Chris Metzen will be talking about the film for an hour, and should have some amazing surprises in store. 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.
BlizzCon 2014: Liveblogging the Overwatch panel
If you wanted to sit down and watch the opening panel for BlizzCon 2014, you could without any need for a virtual ticket. If you wanted to watch the Overwatch panel announced shortly after they announced Overwatch itself... well, you can't do that. But if you have the ticket, you can, and you can always just catch up as I blog information about the game down in the comments. As before, important information will be revealed past the break as I post things. So, is Overwatch the redone version of Titan? (Almost certainly.) Is it more than just Blizzard's version of Team Fortress 2? (Um.) Find out down there in the comments and find the collected information past the break! BlizzCon returns to Anaheim during the weekend of November 7th and 8th, 2014! Whether you're anticipating World of Warcraft's Warlords of Draenor expansion or the latest news from Diablo III, Hearthstone, and Heroes of the Storm, we aim to have it covered!
BlizzCon Overwatch Unveiled liveblog
We finally know what's over in Hall A: Overwatch Unveiled, a panel detailing Blizzard's new team-based shooter franchise. We'll be liveblogging it right here. 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.
