Blizzcon 2015 news roundup
The Blizzcon 2015 opening ceremony has ended and Blizzard had several announcement. Below is a roundup of all the announcement for the Warcraft movie trailer to Hearthstone.
First of there was a StarCraft 2. With StarCraft 2’s final expansion, Legacy of the Void set for release on Tuesday; it wouldn’t be surprising for Blizzard to decide not discuss the series. However, Blizzard Entertainment announced their plans for the game post-Legacy of the Void, and to that end the company announced, StarCraft 2: Nova Cover Ops, an RTS mission pack featuring the Terran ghost, Nova Terra. Blizzard has stated the first mission pack will be released in spring 2016.
Genji, a cybernetic ninja, is an expert assassin capable of extraordinary feats of agility, including reflecting enemy attacks with his blade. D.Va is a former pro-gaming superstar who pilots an experimental military mech in defense of her home country. Mei travels the globe applying her scientific expertise to protect the natural world; in battle, her arsenal of climate-manipulating technology has the power to put the opposition on ice.
Along with this news, Blizzard finally revealed the game’s business model. Overwatch will be a buy to play game, and that it will not only be released on PC, but on PlayStation 4 and Xbox One. The game will also have three release versions: Overwatch, Overwatch: Origins Edition and a Collector’s Edition. Overwatch will include all characters and will only be available on PC £29.99. Overwatch: Origins Edition will retail for £44.99, and will be available for all platforms, feature all characters, special skins, and various digital goodies for Blizzard’s other title. Finally, the Collector’s Edition will include all of the Original Edition content plus a source book, soundtrack and a Soldier: 76 Statue for £99.99.
Next, there is Hearthstone, and Blizzard announced a new Adventure mode for their free to play card game. The new Adventure is titled, The League of Explorers, and it includes 45 new cards and new mechanics for people to learn. The new adventure mode is set to go on sale starting November 13th and it will cost £14.99.
Three new heroes were also announced: Warcraft’s Lunara, Greymane and Cho’gall. Tracer, from Overwatch, will also be added to the game, but appears to be only available when you buy Overwatch: Origins Edition. Cho’gall also has an odd restriction to it, as Cho’gall requires two players to control and is only available to those who are attending Blizzcon or bought a virtual ticket, but Blizzard did state that Cho’gall can be unlocked by partying with a Cho’gall for more than two matches.
Lastly, a new map called Towers of Doom, which players differently to existing Heroes of the Storm maps, has been added. Blizzard has given the following information regarding how the map works.
This Battleground, however, is unlike any that denizens of the Nexus have experienced before. Each Core is protected by a barrier that cannot be destroyed by Heroes. Instead, teams must clash to activate the Altars that rise within the town. Once an Altar is claimed, each of the capturing team’s Bell Towers will fire on the opposing Core. Six Bell Towers in total guard this Battleground—but their allegiance is fickle. Upon destruction, a Bell Tower will turn against its former allies, each adding one more payload to the explosive volley that will fire when an Altar is captured.
With World of Warcraft, there wasn’t much new information regarding the game’s upcoming expansion Legion, which was announced earlier this year. The only notable information we got on new Burning Legion themed will be released in summer 2016, and the game’s stunning opening cinematic.
Author: Ash Meehan
Hi, I’m the creator of SG Gaming Info. When I’m not working on my writing or creating content for this site’s YouTube channel, I like to relax and enjoy character driven story games.