Hearthstone Esports is gearing up for one of its biggest years yet. Blizzard Entertainment has officially unveiled its full plans for the 2026 competitive season, promising more tournaments, higher prize pools, and a clearer path from ranked ladder to the world stage.

Hearthstone Esports is going big in 2026!

With an extra Masters Tour, more ways to qualify and a live World Championship at Blizzcon, it’s going to be an exciting year.

For details on how to watch and compete next year, read our 2026 Esports Blog here: https://t.co/PzwJneOW7P pic.twitter.com/8MMCI85sms

— Hearthstone (@PlayHearthstone) December 18, 2025

After a strong showing in 2025, the return of Hearthstone esports in 2026 is shaping up to be faster paced, more accessible, and more rewarding for players at every level.

Three Masters Tour Championships in 2026

The headline change for 2026 is the expansion of the Masters Tour Championship circuit. Instead of two events, there will now be three, thanks to the introduction of the Winter Championship.

That addition brings an extra $50,000 to the overall prize pool, with each Masters Tour Championship offering $50,000 in prize money. Blizzard confirmed the three events will take place across the Winter, Spring, and Summer competitive seasons, giving players more chances to reach the top.

Competitive Seasons Run Back to Back

Image Credit: Blizzard Entertainment

The 2026 season will be split into three consecutive Competitive Seasons:

• Winter, January to February
• Spring, March to April
• Summer, May to June

Each season includes its own Playoffs and a Masters Tour Championship. Players can qualify by earning Competitive Points through ranked ladder play or by competing in Open Qualifier tournaments, similar to the 2025 format.

Image Credit: Blizzard Entertainment

Competitive Points are awarded based on finishing position in qualifiers, with Rank 1 earning seven points, scaling down to one point for players finishing between 76th and 100th place.

Playoffs Blitz Weekend Debuts

Each Blitz Weekend tournament awards a direct Playoffs spot to the winner, offering a faster, more intense qualification route. Blizzard says this format is designed for players who want serious competition without committing a full day to traditional Swiss style qualifiers.

More Emphasis on Playoffs in 2026

All three Seasonal Playoffs will also be officially broadcast, ensuring year round Hearthstone Esports coverage for fans watching from home.

Updated Masters Tour Qualification System

Qualification for Masters Tour Championships is also changing. Each season, the top four players from APAC, EMEA, and the Americas will qualify, up from just two per region in 2025.

In addition, the top Competitive Point earner from each region, plus the top global point earner, will also secure a spot. The top three players at every Masters Tour Championship advance to the World Championship, meaning each event will now include a third place match with major stakes on the line.

Hearthstone World Championship Returns at BlizzCon

Sixteen players will compete for a massive $500,000 USD prize pool, with the champion crowned on Sunday, September 13.

The World Championship lineup will include:

• Nine players from the top three finishers at each Masters Tour Championship
• Four players from China’s competitive system
• Three players from the global Competitive Point leaderboard

Whether fans attend in person or tune in online, Blizzard is promising an unforgettable finale to the 2026 season.

A Packed Year Ahead for Hearthstone Esports

With the first Competitive Season starting in January, players will not have long to wait before the action begins. Blizzard encourages competitors and fans alike to stay tuned to official social channels and the Hearthstone Esports Discord for Open Qualifier details and rule updates.

Hearthstone Esports in 2026 looks bigger, busier, and more ambitious than ever, and the road to BlizzCon is officially open.

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More than 50 million players worldwide have teamed up to capture objectives, push payloads, and fight for the future in Overwatch, Blizzard Entertainment’s acclaimed team-based shooter.

Today, before a sold-out crowd of BlizzCon 2019 attendees and millions watching online, Blizzard Entertainment revealed Overwatch 2, a supercharged sequel that will send players deeper into the world and story of Overwatch and build upon the original game’s critically acclaimed foundation of world-class PvP competition.

In Overwatch 2, players will take on the roles of the world’s heroes in cooperative missions that challenge them to team up, power up, and stand together against an overwhelming outbreak of threats around the globe. Players will also battle each other in the next evolution of competitive Overwatch play, which carries forward existing players’ accomplishments and loot collections, and features the current complete Overwatch roster, a new generation of heroes, new internationally recognisable maps that widen the scope of the world, a new Push map type, and more.

“With Overwatch 2, we’re building the cooperative, narrative-driven game experience that players have been asking for since the original—and that we’ve wanted to make for a long time,” said J. Allen Brack, president of Blizzard Entertainment. “We’re looking forward to telling the next chapter of this epic story in-game, and we’re excited to give players a whole-new kind of co-op experience built around progressing and customising their favourite heroes—all while providing even more of everything they love about Overwatch today.”

In the sequel’s action-packed cooperative Story Missions, players will experience the advent of a new Overwatch as Winston, Tracer, and other members of the original Overwatch join forces with a new generation of heroes. Players will take an active role in the Overwatch saga as a new global crisis unfolds through a series of intense, high-stakes four-player missions. As the story progresses, players will team up as different sets of heroes and fight to defend the world from the omnic forces of Null Sector, uncover the motives behind the robotic armies’ attacks, and come face-to-face with rising new threats around the globe.

The battle continues in Hero Missions, where the Overwatch team will be called upon to go beyond their limits as they deploy across the planet, defending cities against robot invasions, taking on elite Talon agents, and battling the villainous forces laying siege to the world. In this highly replayable mode, players can level up their favourite heroes and earn powerful customisation options that supercharge their abilities in co-op play—such as altering Reinhardt’s Fire Strike to ignite nearby enemies or modifying Tracer’s Pulse Bomb to cause a devastating chain reaction—granting the extra edge they need against the overwhelming odds.

To help realise these missions, the sequel also introduces significant engine upgrades that support larger maps for co-op (PvE) play, as well as the wide variety of new enemies and factions that players will encounter on their missions. The game also introduces visual enhancements designed to bring players’ favourite heroes—and their new looks for Overwatch 2, to life in greater detail.

Overwatch 2 also represents the beginning of a new era for the series’ world-renowned competitive 6v6 play. In addition to carrying forward all of the original game’s heroes, maps, and modes—as well as existing Overwatch players’ accomplishments and loot collections—the sequel adds multiple new playable heroes to the ever-growing roster; widens the scope of the world with even more maps and locations; and adds a new Push map type, in which two teams compete to make a robot (that happens to be pretty good at pushing things) push the map’s objective to their opponent’s side.

Overwatch 2 also renews Blizzard’s commitment to continue supporting the existing Overwatch community. Current Overwatch players will battle side-by-side with Overwatch 2 players in PvP multiplayer. In addition, current Overwatch players will be able to play Overwatch 2 heroes and maps, ensuring the core PvP experience remains dynamic and vital for today’s community in the Overwatch 2 era.

More details on Blizzard’s plans, including some of the new heroes joining the fray, will be announced here in the future as development continues.

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Blizzard Entertainment today unveiled Descent of Dragons, a high-flying 135-card expansion for its smash-hit free-to-play digital card game Hearthstone.

Hatching on 11 December 2019, the epic conclusion to Hearthstone’s first-ever year-long story line will arm players with draconic firepower—including the ability to transform into Galakrond, the mightiest dragon in Warcraft history.

The Year of the Dragon began with Rise of Shadows, where players were introduced to the League of E.V.I.L., a shadowy organisation led by the notorious Archvillain Rafaam. In Saviors of Uldum, the villains threatened to unleash a world-ending plague, but players joined up with the League of Explorers to save the day. Now, in Descent of Dragons, the forces of good and evil will settle things once and for all with the help of dragons—lots and lots of dragons.

The League of E.V.I.L. plans to bring doom to Azeroth by resurrecting Galakrond—the father of all dragons—who’s playable in different forms in Hearthstone as a set of five new Hero cards. Available to the five “E.V.I.L.” classes—Priest, Rogue, Shaman, Warlock, and Warrior—Galakrond takes on a form appropriate to the corresponding class, each with a unique Battlecry and Hero Power.

Cultist minions and spells with the new Invoke keyword will trigger the effect of Galakrond’s Hero Power. Invoking multiple times upgrades Galakrond into his two increasingly stronger forms, the mightiest of which is Galakrond, Azeroth’s End—which comes into play with a quadruple-strength Battlecry and a powerful claw attack. Hearthstone players who log in when Descent of Dragons swoops in will receive all five Galakrond Hero cards free.

Heroic Druids, Hunters, Mages, and Paladins can cower in the face of Galakrond’s might, or they can bravely prepare to face their doom by completing the new Sidequests, which provide a variety of accessible early-game goals and rewards.

“We love constantly exploring new ideas with Hearthstone, from telling an epic year-long story to introducing fun new ways to play,” said J. Allen Brack, president of Blizzard Entertainment. “Descent of Dragons embodies that value—we think players will have a blast with all of the new cards as well as the new gameplay mechanics we’re introducing with this expansion.”

Until launch, players can pre-purchase two different Descent of Dragons card pack bundles: a 60-pack bundle, which includes a Descent of Dragons-specific golden Legendary card and the Shattering card back; and the massive 100-pack Mega Bundle, which includes those bonuses and the new Deathwing playable Warrior Hero. These bundles are available for $66.95 AUD and $109.95 AUD respectively; one of each can be purchased per account.

At BlizzCon 2019, Blizzard unveiled Hearthstone: Battlegrounds, an all-new way to play. Hearthstone: Battlegrounds is a raucous eight-player auto-battler featuring 24 unique Heroes, in which players will recruit minions, strategically position them, and watch as they battle for supremacy.

This free game mode is designed as a standalone experience that uses Hearthstone as a foundation, but it does not require building or maintaining a card collection. Hearthstone: Battlegrounds will be available to everyone when it enters open beta on Tuesday, 12 November 2019. An early access period will be available from 6 to 12 November 2019 for everyone who attended BlizzCon, purchased the BlizzCon Virtual Ticket, or pre-purchased either of the Descent of Dragons bundles.

Beginning with Descent of Dragons, everyone will receive free access to Hearthstone: Battlegrounds. While nonessential for play, Hearthstone players will be able to unlock optional bonus features when they acquire card packs from the most recent expansion (starting with Descent of Dragons). This includes free packs, those acquired with in-game gold, or those purchased with real money. At 10 packs, players unlock comprehensive stat-tracking in Hearthstone: Battlegrounds (slated for release following beta testing); at 20 they can choose from three different Bosses instead of two at the start of each match; and at 30, players unlock the ability to playfully communicate with their opponents using a visual emote system.

Be on the lookout for more information regarding Battlegrounds soon.

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A little over five years ago, a few Blizzard Entertainment developers were toiling away on a small passion project: Hearthstone, a free-to-play digital collectible card game at a time when such games were not front of mind for most. They based the game on the company’s Warcraft universe and polished every aspect—from the flash of the animations to the bombastic voice lines of the heroes, and launched it to critical acclaim globally in 2014. Today Blizzard announced that Hearthstone has hit the 100-million-player mark.

“Reaching 100 million players is a huge milestone for Hearthstone, but what matters to us even more is the fact that so many people around the world have embraced the spirit of the game,” said J. Allen Brack, president of Blizzard Entertainment. “Whether at events like BlizzCon and Fireside Gatherings or just in tuning in to watch their favourite streamers, it’s been so inspiring to see millions of players and fans coming together, online and in real life, to participate in the Hearthstone community.”

Hearthstone features a deceptively simple format in which players build digital card decks and duel each other head-to-head or play through one of several different card-based Solo Adventures. As a result of its charm and accessibility—as well as the corresponding entertainment and education provided by numerous talented community content creators—Hearthstone has consistently been a leading game on media platforms like Twitch and YouTube.

As a card-based game, Hearthstone is unlike any of the other games regularly in the top ranks on those platforms. In addition to its highly accessible card-vs.-card gameplay and the colourful personality that comes through its vibrant audio and visual elements, a major difference is that all player-to-player communication takes place through pre-generated voice lines tailored for each of the game’s playable heroes, all conveying warmth, positivity, and good-natured sportsmanship. This helps create a welcoming setting for all players, from beginners to seasoned veterans, and despite being a skill-based competitive experience, offers a change of pace from other competitive games. With separate chat functionality supported in Hearthstone across all PC and mobile platforms, it also makes it easier for players to engage socially on their own terms.

In addition, Blizzard recently overhauled the “new-player experience” for the game, putting a bigger buffer between beginners and veterans, making it even easier for anyone to jump in and play. Blizzard is known for its polish and “easy to learn, hard to master” approach to game design, and Hearthstone is a shining example, with an introductory competitive experience that eases players into the fundamentals of the game and amply rewards them along the way.

To accentuate Hearthstone’s tavern vibe and encourage players to take the fun of the game out into the real world, Blizzard developed the global “Fireside Gathering” program, which enables “Innkeepers” to coordinate gaming get-togethers at their local restaurants, student centres, hobby shops, and actual taverns and pubs. Each month, an average of 2,655 Hearthstone Fireside Gatherings take place in cities around the world, from Boston to Beijing.

At these events, players hang out, enjoy the atmosphere and establishment, and battle each other on their mobile devices in a casual competition. Special prizes are often awarded, and friendships often develop. Another highlight is that Fireside Gatherings often feature pre-release parties for upcoming Hearthstone content expansions, giving attendees a first crack at playing the newest cards being added to the game. This year alone, more than 23,000 Fireside Gatherings have taken place, with many more scheduled in cities everywhere.

As a way of commemorating Hearthstone’s 100-million-player milestone and thanking players everywhere for bringing the game to life, Blizzard is holding a special in-game event from 8th through 11th November 2018. During the 100 Million Players Celebration event, players who log in to the game will receive a one-time reward of six free packs from the most recent expansion set, The Boomsday Project. In addition, players will be able to complete a series of “Celebrate the Players” event quests to earn up to 500 gold, which can be used to acquire card packs from any set in the game and participate in the Arena mode, a fun alternative form of competition in Hearthstone.

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As announced at Blizzcon 2018 world-renowned troll gladiators and fans of fierce competition from across Azeroth will soon crowd the fabled Gurubashi Arena for Rastakhan’s Rumble, the next expansion for Hearthstone, Blizzard Entertainment’s smash-hit digital card game. Starting 5th of December 2018, players will vie for glory with 135 new cards and a mojo-fuelled arsenal of new mechanics.

Once per generation, the troll tribes of Azeroth make a pilgrimage at King Rastakhan’s behest to participate in a no-holds-barred smackdown for the ages. This year, nine teams have formed around their mightiest combatants—Legendary Troll Champions who each represent a Hearthstone class. The teams enjoy the blessings of the Loa, the ancient spirits worshipped by the trolls, who have manifested themselves in the form of powerful Legendary minions. Players can also seek the aid of Spirits—a new kind of class-specific minion, each with impressive effects that synergise with the Loa.

It won’t just be King Rastakhan’s favour that players will compete for—the raucous crowd must also be entertained! Players looking to exhibit their gladiatorial prowess with flashy, over-the-top finishes can do so with Overkill—a new gameplay mechanic that rewards players for dealing excess damage to enemy minions.

Players thirsty for glory should keep their axes sharp, for soon after the launch of Rastakhan’s Rumble they’ll be able to test their might against Azeroth’s strongest troll champions in Rumble Run, the exhilarating new single-player Hearthstone experience coming with the expansion. Gurubashi event organisers will be sharing more details with all the potential gladiators out there in the weeks ahead.

Coming to Windows and Mac PCs; Windows, iOS, and Android tablets; and mobile phones, Rastakhan’s Rumble card packs will be winnable in Hearthstone’s Arena mode, and players can purchase them with in-game gold or real money at the same prices as Hearthstone’s other card packs.

Starting today and up until the expansion is released, aspiring combatants can pre-purchase Rastakhan’s Rumble card packs in two different bundle options: the 17-pack Challenger’s Bundle includes the Ready to Rumble! card back, while the 50-pack Rumble Bundle also includes a new playable Shaman Hero—King Rastakhan.

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Blizzard Entertainment today released major details about BlizzCon 2018, its epic celebration of gaming and community taking place next week.

On Friday, 2nd of November 2018, and Saturday, 3rd of November 2018 PDT (3-4 November AEDT/NZDT), an expected 40,000+ people, and millions more tuning in online from around the world, will come together to see what has become a spectacle of video game culture.

Every BlizzCon is an epic moment in Blizzard history, and this one promises to be another one to remember—from announcements at the opening ceremony to the dozens of stage events, community activities, and esports tournaments taking place across more than 1 million square feet at the Anaheim Convention Center in California.

BlizzCon 2018 is sold out, with record attendance expected this year, but Blizzard wants to make sure as many people as possible from around the world can be part of the show. This year, Blizzard is adding to its slate of free livestreams, which include the show’s opening ceremony and all esports tournaments. Last year, over 10 million viewers from more than 180 countries tuned in to BlizzCon.

Blizzard is also enhancing the BlizzCon Virtual Ticket with more features and ways to be part of the show. The BlizzCon Virtual Ticket is a paid service providing the deepest access available to live content, with access to events from every major stage and field reports from the BlizzCon show floor.

It includes the same in-game virtual item bonuses for Blizzard franchises that show attendees receive and comes with access to dozens of videos on demand (VODs) featuring original programming. As a first in Blizzard’s history, this year’s Virtual Ticket also brings home one of the demos being debuted at the show, with the World of Warcraft Classic demo available to players around the world around the same time it goes live on the show floor.

“BlizzCon is simply the best part of the year for Blizzard and our player community, as we come together for an epic celebration of games and gamer culture,” said Saralyn Smith, executive producer of BlizzCon at Blizzard Entertainment. “This is a welcoming home for our global community. We co-create the show with our players, and we want to involve as much of our community as possible in forming the next epic moments that become Blizzard history.”

BlizzCon’s biggest news and announcements begin with the opening ceremony at 5:00 a.m. AEDT / 7:00 a.m. NZDT on Saturday, 3rd of November 2018.

Like last year, online viewers can tune in for free to see the pre-show and opening ceremony on the BlizzCon All-Access Channel starting at 4:30 a.m. AEDT / 6:30 a.m. NZDT.

This year, there are more ways to catch BlizzCon live. Livestreams are available via BlizzCon.com and the BlizzCon mobile app for Android and iOS. For the first time, viewers can watch livestreams using the BlizzCon TV app and the Blizzard Battle.net desktop app, and they can cast to their favourite devices using Google Chromecast, Amazon Fire TV, Apple TV, and Airplay. They can also watch in more languages than ever, with content available in English, Spanish, German, Korean, French, Chinese, Russian, and Portuguese.

For the first time, the BlizzCon All-Access Channel is airing two additional free livestream previews, from 8:00 a.m. AEDT / 10:00 a.m. NZDT to 9:00 a.m. AEDT / 11:00 a.m. NZDT on Saturday, and again from 9:00 a.m. AEDT / 11:00 a.m. NZDT to 10:00 a.m. AEDT / 12:00 p.m. NZDT on Sunday. To access the show programming available during these times, check out the BlizzCon 2018 Schedule.

Along with the opening ceremony and All-Access Channel previews, all esports programming at BlizzCon is livestreamed for free.

BlizzCon spans nearly every part of the Anaheim Convention Center (with more onsite broadcast equipment than many major league sports events). Blizzard is again featuring a multi-stage opening ceremony that will be simulcast throughout the convention centre. Panels and presentations featuring developers and special guests—and plenty of memorable moments—take place both days of the show across three stages: Mythic Stage, located in Hall D, and the Epic and Legendary Stages, both located in North Hall Level 2.

BlizzCon has traditionally ended with a closing headline band. BlizzCon 2018 is transforming that tradition into a closing music festival featuring three distinct entertainment experiences: the iconic American rock band Train, violinist and performance artist Lindsey Stirling, and DJ and popular actor Kristian Nairn. All three concerts will be streamed live in HD to online viewers via the Virtual Ticket.

Community Night returns with the legendary Costume Contest, Talent Contest, Movie Contest, and Art Contest. Featuring popular VO actors Darin De Paul as host and Matthew Mercer joining the judge’s panel, Blizzard’s biggest annual community stage show starts at 1:00 p.m. AEDT / 3:00 p.m. NZDT on Saturday, 3rd of November 2018, and is available to online viewers via the Virtual Ticket.

BlizzCon 2018 is also the site for Blizzard esports, gathering elite players from around the world to make history in the Overwatch World Cup Finals, Hearthstone Global Games Finals, StarCraft II WCS Global Finals, World of Warcraft Arena World Championship Global Finals, World of Warcraft Mythic Dungeon Invitational All-Stars, and Heroes of the Storm Global Championship Finals.

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Australia has qualified for BlizzCon at the 2018 Overwatch World Cup Bangkok Group Stage, held over the weekend. The tournament proved the most intense Group Stage yet, with plenty of triumphs and upsets across three days of matches, in front of a live audience at the Royal Paragon Hall.

While Australia performed strongly on days one and two, it all came down to the final day, where four teams — China, Australia, Denmark and Sweden—remained in contention for the two available spots in the Top 8 at BlizzCon.

China secured their berth early in the day, meanwhile, the final spot came down to an intense battle between Denmark and Sweden. If Denmark won, Australia would need to beat top-seeded China in order to proceed to BlizzCon, otherwise Denmark would go through. If Sweden won, Australia would only need to take one map from China in the next match to qualify.

2018-09-16 / Photo: Robert Paul for Blizzard Entertainment

In a nail-biting tiebreaker victory, Sweden edged out their Scandinavian brethren, putting Australia in a prime position to secure the second spot at BlizzCon.

After conceding both Nepal and King’s Row to Team China, the one map needed by Team Australia suddenly seemed out of reach. But in a stunning turnaround, Australia was able to claim not one but two maps from the Chinese, forcing the series to a tiebreaker. While Australia ultimately lost the series, it was enough to punch their ticket to BlizzCon and come within a breath of topping the stage altogether.

2018-09-14 / Photo: Robert Paul for Blizzard Entertainment

The weekend saw impressive play from each member of the Aussie team, with the one-two combination of tanks, Punk and Trill, looking solid for every match. ckm dominated on Pharah and Hus provided plenty of clutch kills on Widowmaker, supported by Akraken’s dependable Ana and Overwatch League All-Star backbone, Custa, on Mercy and Zenyatta. Added to this was the strategic nous of LA Valiant’s Assistant Coach, Gunba, and Team Australia GM, rqt, who helped prove that that despite the odds, Team Australia could tangle with some of the best in the world and come out on top.

China and Australia will join South Korea, Finland, the USA, and Canada at BlizzCon in November 2018 as they battle for the gold medal, with the two spots remaining up for grabs at the Paris Group Stage this weekend.

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This will take place on Friday, November 6th and Saturday, November 7th, 2015 (PDT), with tickets going on sale in two batches on April 16 (NZST) and April 19th (NZST).

“There’s no better way to connect with the ever-expanding Blizzard community than by bringing everyone together at BlizzCon,” said Mike Morhaime, CEO and cofounder of Blizzard Entertainment. “With more games in development than ever before, we’ll have plenty of exciting updates to share and lots of great eSports competition to look forward to—we can’t wait to see everyone there.”

BlizzCon is an epic celebration of Blizzard Entertainment’s game universes and the global player communities that bring them to life. At this year’s event, attendees will have a chance to enjoy:

• Hands-on play time with the latest versions of Blizzard Entertainment games
• Global Finals for Blizzard eSports, including the StarCraft II World Championship Series and Hearthstone World Championship
• In-depth discussion panels with Blizzard game developers and artists
• Community contests with great prizes
• Commemorative merchandise based on Blizzard’s game universes
• More activities and attractions to be announced

Tickets to attend BlizzCon 2015 will be priced at $199 USD (plus applicable taxes and fees) each and will be available for purchase from the online event ticketing service Eventbrite in two separate batches.

The first batch goes on sale at 7 p.m. Pacific time on Wednesday, April 15th (2 p.m. NZST Thursday, April 16th), and the second batch goes on sale at 10 a.m. Pacific time on Saturday, April 18th (5 a.m. NZST on Sunday, April 19th).

An exclusive pre-BlizzCon dinner to benefit Children’s Hospital of Orange County (CHOC) will also be held the evening of Thursday, November 5th, giving attendees the chance to eat, drink, and be merry alongside Blizzard developers, artists, and community representatives while supporting a great cause.

Further details on the BlizzCon Benefit Dinner, including ticket pricing and availability, will be announced at a later date.

Anyone looking to enjoy BlizzCon from the comfort of their own home will once again have the option to order a BlizzCon Virtual Ticket, offering comprehensive live coverage of the event via a multichannel online stream.

Further details on the Virtual Ticket, including pricing, availability, and programming information, will be announced at a later date.

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Meaning that you will not require Wings of Liberty or Heart of the Swarm to play.

Attendees of the company’s BlizzCon gaming festival were the first in the world to play Legacy of the Void, with single-player campaign missions, a new cooperative gameplay mode—Archon Mode, and multiplayer battles featuring several new playable units all on display. Another gameplay mode, Allied Commanders, was also announced at the event.

StarCraft II: Legacy of the Void continues the story of Blizzard’s award-winning StarCraft II: Wings of Liberty where the first expansion, Heart of the Swarm, left off, with a new campaign that brings the sci-fi saga to an epic conclusion.

Protoss legends Artanis and Zeratul attempt to unite their race in an intergalactic fight for survival against an ancient evil from the Void that threatens the universe. The fates of Terran hero Jim Raynor and Kerrigan, the Queen of Blades, also hang in the balance.

“Legacy of the Void will deliver the quintessential StarCraft II experience,” said Mike Morhaime, CEO and cofounder of Blizzard Entertainment. “The new single-player campaign will wrap up the massive story, and we’re excited to share new game modes that will open up different ways to play the game and additional units that will expand the rich strategic depth of StarCraft II multiplayer.”

Archon Mode, a competitive multiplayer mode unveiled at BlizzCon, is a new way to enjoy StarCraft II with friends.

In Archon Mode, two players share control over a single base and units as they take on an enemy duo in multiplayer action. By sharing the responsibility of commanding troops and managing resources, players can focus on their own areas of the battle and execute more intricate strategies.

Allied Commanders is another gameplay mode new to StarCraft II.

In this objective-based, cooperative experience, players can team up and take on the roles of powerful commanders from the StarCraft saga.

Each commander offers unique abilities and upgrades and bestows special bonuses on their armies. Players are able to battle through a series of special scenarios together, leveling up their commanders’ capabilities as they progress.

Multiplayer battles in Legacy of the Void will be fought with an array of new units, as well as upgrades to veteran forces.

Zerg swarms will welcome the return of the Lurker, a classic creature from the original StarCraft that lays waste to infantry with deadly spines that burst from the ground.

The Protoss field a new weapon called the Disruptor, which can use massive energy spikes to wreak havoc through swaths of ground forces. And the Terrans have engineered some new technology, such as Tactical Jump, which allows their Battlecruisers to teleport to any location on the battlefield. Several more new units and abilities were exhibited at BlizzCon, showcasing the new strategic and tactical options in store for players with Legacy of the Void.

Blizzard also revealed that Legacy of the Void will include functionality that enhances online multiplayer play with automated tournaments, providing players with ongoing events that support the active StarCraft II community.

Legacy of the Void will be a standalone expansion that does not require a license of the base game, StarCraft II: Wings of Liberty, or the first expansion, Heart of the Swarm. Further details about Legacy of the Void, including pricing and availability, will be announced at a later date.

Blizzard is developing StarCraft II: Legacy of the Void for simultaneous release on Windows and Macintosh. Release date TBA.

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