Carzy Zarx’s PC Gaming Emporium - Catch Up on All the Latest PC Gaming Related News

[JEMC]

As you have seen, I’ve posted a short article in the second post. That’s because rather than splitting the PCGamer articles between full and short, today it’s a bit different, with the first post being a general one while this one is entirely focused on Blizzard articles. Let’s begin:

Heroes of the Storm gets first new hero after supposed death and 6 year wait
https://www.pcgamer.com/games/moba/heroes-of-the-storm-gets-first-new-hero-after-supposed-death-and-6-year-wait/
It's rare that a MOBA comes out, rarer that it manages to stick around, and perhaps rarest of all that it surges back to life after years on the backburner. While Heroes of the Storm never quite had its lights turned off, the constant downpour of new stuff you'd expect in a live service game did wind down. Until now.
At today's Blizzcon opening ceremony, it was announced that Xal'atath, the Harbinger of the Void, will be arriving in the long-dormant MOBA as a new hero—its first since Hogger was released all the way back in 2020. It's the first truly substantial update since 2022, as the game has only received light-touch balance passes and bug fixes since Blizzard announced a shift to maintenance mode.

New StarCraft game is an open world shooter coming in 2030
https://www.pcgamer.com/games/fps/new-starcraft-game-is-an-open-world-shooter-coming-in-2030/
The rumors were true: A new StarCraft game is incoming. It's just called "StarCraft," it's an open world shooter, and Blizzard doesn't plan to release it until 2030.
>> Other related articles:

• StarCraft is a narrative-driven shooter with 'a definitive ending' and 'not a seasonal game': https://www.pcgamer.com/games/fps/starcraft-is-a-narrative-driven-shooter-with-a-definitive-ending-and-not-a-seasonal-game/

Diablo 5 is coming in 2029
https://www.pcgamer.com/games/rpg/diablo-5-is-coming-in-2029/
The biggest surprise of BlizzCon might be Diablo 5, which Blizzard announced will release in spring 2029, six years after the 2023 launch of Diablo 4. The sequel will take place about a century after the events of Diablo 4. Sanctuary is no longer on the verge of apocalypse in Diablo 5: It's been fully apolcalpyted. The Lord of Terror—aka Diablo himself, absent in Diablo 4—is back, and he won.
>> Other related articles:

• Diablo 5 gameplay details from BlizzCon: More classes than ever before, procedurally-generated dungeons, and Diablo 2-style loot: https://www.pcgamer.com/games/rpg/diablo-5-gameplay-details-from-blizzcon-more-classes-than-ever-before-procedurally-generated-dungeons-and-diablo-2-style-loot/
• Diablo 5 will fully support multiplayer, but Blizzard won't say how similar to Diablo 4 it'll be: https://www.pcgamer.com/games/rpg/diablo-5-will-fully-support-multiplayer-but-blizzard-wont-say-how-similar-to-diablo-4-itll-be/

Hearthstone just got its first new class in four years: Warcraft's fire-breathing panda Monk
https://www.pcgamer.com/games/card-games/hearthstone-just-got-its-first-new-class-in-four-years-warcrafts-fire-breathing-panda-monk/
At today's Blizzcon opening ceremony, it was announced that Hearthstone will receive a third post-launch class—the game's first since the Death Knight released in 2022. It's none other than the Monk, a class with origins you can trace all the way back to Warcraft 3's pandaren brewmaster.

Blizzard just dropped a new Warcraft 3 campaign, the first in 23 years
https://www.pcgamer.com/games/rts/blizzard-just-dropped-a-new-warcraft-3-campaign-the-first-in-23-years/
For the first time since its Frozen Throne expansion in 2003, Warcraft 3 is getting a new campaign. Or got one, more accurately: Blizzard just announced at BlizzCon that it's dropping the expansion today. In a pre-brief before BlizzCon's opening ceremony, we learned that Warcraft 3: Forsaken Kingdom is a two-part campaign for Warcraft 3: Reforged, the 2020 remaster of the 2002 RTS. It begins with a prologue covering the story of Arthas, the primary antagonist in World of Warcraft's Wrath of the Lich King expansion.
>> Other related articles:

• Warcraft 3: Reforged adds always-online requirement, removes LAN mode: https://www.pcgamer.com/games/rts/warcraft-3-reforged-adds-always-online-requirement-removes-lan-mode/

Overwatch's newest hero is a robo-vampire, and reworks are on the way for Roadhog and Sombra
https://www.pcgamer.com/games/fps/overwatchs-newest-hero-is-a-robo-vampire-and-reworks-are-on-the-way-for-roadhog-and-sombra/
As was revealed in today's Blizzcon opening ceremony, Overwatch's newest hero is on the way: Doctrine, a vampire with a cyborg arm and mechanical bats. He was debuted via a story trailer that reveals a connection to Doomfist, the game's resident punch man.

The WoW 'Classic+' rumors were true: World of Warcraft: Forever promises to be another timeline's version of the MMO
https://www.pcgamer.com/games/world-of-warcraft/the-wow-classic-rumors-were-true-world-of-warcraft-forever-promises-to-be-another-timelines-bizzarro-version-of-the-mmo/
The rumored game known to World of Warcraft fans as "Classic Plus" is real, and it has a proper name now—World of Warcraft: Forever is a new branch of the MMO that once again resets the clock to 2004, the year WoW first launched.
But unlike WoW: Classic, the goal of WoW: Forever isn't just to take a trip back to the MMO's origins to relive those heady early years. WoW: Forever will explore new parts of Azeroth, telling stories that weren't told during the MMO's original progression.
>> Other related articles:

• World of Warcraft Forever hype dampened by $30 elves: New Skyborne race locked behind expansion-tier purchase: https://www.pcgamer.com/games/world-of-warcraft/our-world-of-warcraft-forever-hype-is-dampened-by-usd30-elves-new-skyborne-race-locked-behind-expansion-tier-purchase/
• 10 big World of Warcraft Forever details from BlizzCon: No separate realms, optional transmog, and massively improved items: https://www.pcgamer.com/games/world-of-warcraft/10-big-world-of-warcraft-forever-details-from-blizzcon-no-separate-realms-optional-transmog-and-massively-improved-items/
• Talent calculators have already been assembled for World of Warcraft: Forever, and there's some real interesting stuff in here: https://www.pcgamer.com/games/world-of-warcraft/talent-calculators-have-already-been-assembled-for-world-of-warcraft-forever-and-theres-some-real-interesting-stuff-in-here/

No more Diablo 4 expansions are planned, but there's 'a lot of room' for more storytelling in the lead-up to Diablo 5
https://www.pcgamer.com/games/rpg/no-more-diablo-4-expansions-are-planned-but-theres-a-lot-of-room-for-more-storytelling-in-the-leadup-to-diablo-5/
Diablo is returning: At BlizzCon today, Blizzard announced that Diablo 5 will be set a century after Diablo 4 in a Sanctuary that has succumbed to the Lord of Terror, Diablo himself.
That's not until 2029, though. In the meantime, Blizzard will continue the story of Diablo 4 with seasons, but no more expansions are currently planned for the game.

World of Warcraft: Forever devs say a direct sequel like Guild Wars 2 is unlikely: 'Why would you throw that away and start over?'
https://www.pcgamer.com/games/world-of-warcraft/world-of-warcraft-forever-devs-say-a-direct-sequel-like-guild-wars-2-is-unlikely-why-would-you-throw-that-away-and-start-over/
World of Warcraft: Forever looks—well, pretty interesting, all told. Rather than just being a Season of Discovery-style reimagining of Classic, Forever promises to be a full-on remake of classic-era WoW. Reimagined class trees, new raids, and $30 elves. Don't think about the $30 elves too hard.
But it does beg the question, why is Blizzard doing this rather than, say, developing WoW 2? It worked out swimmingly for ArenaNet's Guild Wars series, after all. Speaking to IGN, Forever's principal designer Kris Zierhut says: "I think one of the things that's singularly great about WoW is we have this game and this world and this design that has been continuously developed for the last 25 years.

There's a short one here as well:

Why is Blizzard still announcing games years ahead of release? 'We want to convey confidence in some of our biggest bets coming forward'
https://www.pcgamer.com/games/rts/why-is-blizzard-still-announcing-games-years-ahead-of-release-we-want-to-convey-confidence-in-some-of-our-biggest-bets-coming-forward/