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Blizzard's cancelled 'StarCraft: Ghost' leaks in playable form
Blizzard's cancelled StarCraft: Ghost has been the stuff of gaming legend. It was supposed to mark Blizzard's big leap into 3D action games, but it never came to pass -- delays, changing developers and evolving game platforms led the studio to put the game on "indefinite hold." Now, however, gamers appear to be getting a first-hand look at what they've missed. YouTube users Leers Meneses, Delso Bezerra and others say they've obtained a playable build of Ghost for the original Xbox through a leaked developer kit. It's unsurprisingly broken (the first two missions don't work properly, Meneses said), but appears to have been well into development -- you can fend off Zerg and engage in Metal Gear Solid-style chats.
Overwatch League moves matches to South Korea after coronavirus outbreak
The current coronavirus outbreak (aka COVID-19) is affecting the esports world as much as other industries. The Overwatch League is moving cancelled homestand matches at Guangzhou, Hangzhou and Shanghai to Seoul, South Korea during weeks 6 and 7 of the competition, with some possibly being attached to Seoul Dynasty's home event in week 5. The league had scrubbed its February and March matches in China to "protect the health and safety" of fans, competitors and organizers.
Activision Blizzard pulls its games from GeForce Now
GeForce Now, NVIDIA's game streaming service, went live for everyone last week. It allows you to play hundreds of games from dozens of publishers in the cloud, but Activision Blizzard's titles are no longer among the options after the publisher asked NVIDIA to remove its titles from the service. "While unfortunate, we hope to work together with Activision Blizzard to reenable these games and more in the future," an NVIDIA staff member wrote on the GeForce Now forums.
'Gears of War' boss Rod Fergusson leaves to take over 'Diablo'
After 15 years of working on Gears of War games, The Coalition studio head Rod Fergusson announced he's leaving the Microsoft franchise to join Blizzard Entertainment. Starting in March, he'll "oversee the Diablo franchise." Fergusson has been a part of every Gears game released so far, dating back to his role as a producer on the original -- check out his comments on updates to the "roadie run" in 2007 -- and he's been in charge ever since Microsoft acquired the franchise in 2014. His departure comes as Microsoft is expanding its ownership of development studios with new acquisitions like Ninja Theory and Obsidian, and considering different paths of distribution by pushing Xbox Game Pass and streaming. That directly impacts the Gears franchise, which is about to launch a PC-only tactics spin-off. Meanwhile, Blizzard recently revealed it's working on Diablo IV, which comes after many players had a negative response to news of the Diablo Immortal mobile game. We'll probably hear more about those games, and everything Microsoft has planned for the future of Gears, sooner rather than later.
Blizzard pledges to fix (or refund) 'Warcraft III: Reforged'
It's only been a few days since Blizzard launched Warcraft III: Reforged, but fans have made it clear that they are not happy. In response, Blizzard says it is "sorry to those of you who didn't have the experience you wanted." The company promises that at least a handful of fixes are on the way.
'Overwatch' will test weekly hero bans in competitive matches
Many Overwatch players have been hoping for some time that Blizzard would bring in a hero ban system to keep the game from stagnating. The likes of Rainbow Six: Siege, Dota 2 and League of Legends allow players to vote for characters the opposing team can't use in a given match, but Blizzard isn't quite taking that approach with Overwatch. It'll trial a system called Hero Pools, in which a few characters will be disabled in competitive matches each week.
'Starcraft II' finals will skip BlizzCon in favor of new ESL Pro Tour
Starcraft II matches at BlizzCon are no more. Thanks to a new three-year partnership between ESL, DreamHack and Blizzard, we'll now be getting brand new ESL Pro Tour formats for both Starcraft II and Warcraft III: Reforged, and it'll come with a hefty prize pool of over $4.6 million.
'Warcraft III: Reforged' arrives on January 28th
Blizzard announced Warcraft III: Reforged just over a year ago, promising a top-to-bottom refresh of the landmark real-time strategy title and its Frozen Throne add-on. Now, we know when it's going to land. The game, which features seven single-player campaigns spanning more than 60 missions, plus a total graphics and audio overhaul, releases on January 28th in the US, and on the 29th in the UK.
'Diablo IV' team reveals early thoughts on dungeons, level caps
Blizzard only just announced Diablo IV a couple of weeks ago, but it's already provided some key updates on the game's development. In an attempt to repair a fractured relationship with the community that dates back further than the last few months of controversy -- remember the Diablo Immortal reveal last year? -- a recent update is exposing some of the developer's thoughts on system design. That's crucial for a loot-focused experience like Diablo so players feel both challenged and rewarded for their efforts, so explaining ahead of time how skill trees, items and progressions will work and getting some feedback is a good idea.
Colin Furze made a real version of Junkrat’s RIP-tire from ‘Overwatch’
If you need something from pop culture brought to life, then the first person to call is Colin Furze, YouTube's own mad inventor. Furze has already made working versions of the grapple gauntlet from Assassin's Creed and Wolverine's claws from the X-Men. Now, with the backing of Blizzard, Furze has build a real-world version of Junkrat's RIP-tire weapon from Overwatch, which hit the Switch on October 15th.
After Math: It's sequel season
Friday's announcement that the second coming of Into the Spider-Verse will arrive in theaters on April 8, 2022, came amidst a flurry of franchise follow-up news. Motorola really is bringing back its famed Razr flip phone, Blizzard confirmed the new editions of both Diablo and Overwatch are on the way, and even Jack Ryan came back from hiatus early to launch the show's second season.
'WoW' Shadowlands expansion will revamp the leveling system
While World of Warcraft Classic has been great for a lot of players, the modern version of the MMO is still going strong. At Blizzcon 2019, the team announced it's eighth expansion, Shadowlands, which will follow Battle for Azeroth. After characters die, and before they are revived, the world they see is the Shadowlands, and in this pack "Azeroth's heroes will confront the wonders and horrors of the afterlife."
Blizzard's 2019 event opened with an apology for its response to protests
Along with announcements of new games and expansions, the opening remarks from Blizzcon 2019 included a reference to how the company handled a Hearthstone pro who voiced support for Hong Kong protesters in a post-match interview. Blizzard banned the player, "Blitzchung," for a year, stripped him of his winnings and cut ties with the casters who were interviewing him, initiating protests from others who saw the company's moves as violations of free speech, and favoring the Chinese government. On the event stage, president J. Allen Brack said "Blizzard had an opportunity to bring the world together..We moved too quickly in our decision, and then, to make matters worse, we were too slow to talk with all of you. When I think about what I'm most unhappy about, it's really two things: We didn't live up to the high standards we set for ourselves. And second, we failed in our purpose."
Blizzard unveils 'Overwatch 2' at BlizzCon
Following a leak about the game earlier this week, Blizzard officially revealed Overwatch 2 at BlizzCon, including an early look at gameplay. You can expect four-player story missions (a permanent version of the current event missions) and hero missions that take place in familiar and new locales as Blizzard expands the franchise's lore. Until now, much of the storytelling has played out in cinematic videos and comics. The story missions include an item system that allow you to pick up and deploy gear like healing packs, grenades and shields.
Blizzard confirms 'Diablo IV' with a gothic, gruesome trailer
After leaks suggested as such, Blizzard officially announced Diablo IV at BlizzCon. It started the event's opening ceremony with an impressively gruesome cinematic trailer that gives a sense of the action RPG's vibe.
'Overwatch 2' may debut at BlizzCon with a greater focus on story
Diablo IV isn't the only high-profile game rumored to debut at BlizzCon. ESPN claims to have a training document revealing plans to introduce Overwatch 2 at the event, which starts November 1st. The description suggests it may be more of a refinement than an overhaul, but there could be significant changes. Reportedly, it'll have a stronger focus on "story and narrative elements," including a four-player experience set in Lucio's home turf of Rio de Janeiro. You might not have to rely quite so heavily on character origin videos to get a feel for Overwatch's universe.
Former Xbox executive Mike Ybarra is Blizzard's new GM
Former Xbox executive Mike Ybarra has revealed his next role: he's joining Blizzard as executive vice-president and general manager. He'll step into the job just after Blizzcon, which takes place next weekend.
Blizzard may reveal 'Diablo IV' at Blizzcon
Blizzard is in desperate need of a major pick-me-up after a torrid few weeks, and might have an ace up its sleeve for Blizzcon, which takes place in less than two weeks. An ad for a Diablo artbook suggests that Diablo IV exists, and Blizzard might very well unveil it at the convention.
US lawmakers criticize Apple over Chinese app censorship
In a new letter co-penned by a bipartisan group of members of Congress, federal lawmakers say they have "strong concern" related to Apple's recent actions in China. The letter, which is addressed to CEO Tim Cook, zeroes in on Apple's decision earlier this month to remove HKMap, an app pro-democracy demonstrators in Hong Kong used to track the location of local law enforcement.
Internet Archive adds 2,500 more DOS games to playable database
Since 2013, the underappreciated heroes at Internet Archive have been working diligently to preserve old and abandoned PC games. In 2015, the organization started hosting 2,400 DOS games, allowing you to play cult classics like Gods and Tongue of the Fatman in your browser. This week, the organization added another 2,500 DOS games to its database.
