StarCraft Returns, a New Diablo, and a Hero for HOTS — Everything Shown at the BlizzCon 2026 Opening Ceremony

BlizzCon is back after three years off, and Blizzard didn't waste any time proving it means business. The opening ceremony alone delivered a brand-new franchise, a fifth Diablo game, and a World of Warcraft Classic+ that's launching in a matter of weeks. Here's everything that went down.

A New StarCraft

After weeks of rumors and teasing, Blizzard made it official: StarCraft is back. The new game, StarCraft 2030, is an open-world shooter.

The trailer follows soldiers through training, watches them get their badges, and ships them off to an unknown planet where a Zerg army is already waiting. It closes on damaged suits being repaired and blood-stained badges pulled off for the next round of recruits.

No gameplay, no further details. Just a 2030 release window, so this one's a long way off. The trailer has also revealed the first details about the StarCraft lore.

30 Years of Diablo

Diablo turns 30 this year, and Blizzard treated it like an occasion. First up: an animated series with Netflix, set in the Diablo universe. No details, no date yet.

Then came the bigger news. Diablo IV is heading to Nintendo Switch 2 on September 15, the same day a new season kicks off. It's called Hell's Legacy, built around the anniversary, and it brings Deckard Cain back to lead players toward a confrontation with Diablo, Baal, and Mephisto.

The Amazon is also coming back from Diablo II, landing as a separate DLC class pack sometime in the first half of 2027.

The biggest surprise was saved for last, though. Instead of another Diablo IV DLC, Blizzard announced Diablo V outright, with a short first trailer. This time players aren't defending Sanctuary. They're stepping into a world demons have already won.

Diablo V is set for 2029. No exact date yet.

Heroes of the Storm Gets a New Hero

Blizzard also came back to Heroes of the Storm, its long-neglected MOBA, which lost full support years ago. Xal'atath from WoW is joining the roster — the game's first new hero in a long time.

Overwatch's New Character

A new Overwatch hero, Doctrine, got confirmed too. The trailer shows a team breaking into a facility to free a captive character, who then straps on a bracelet and sheds years off their age.

Doctrine is playable this weekend for testing only. No launch date yet.

Monk and New Hearthstone Content

Hearthstone's next patch, landing October 20, adds a keyword called "Assemble" that lets you merge two minions' text boxes into one, opening up some genuinely ridiculous combos.

A 2v2 mode is coming too, so you and a friend can team up against two other players.

The last big reveal was a new class: the Monk, represented by Chen Stormstout, marking Blizzard's first new class in years. It's not shipping with October's patch, though. The Monk lands in March 2027, and nothing about its kit has been revealed yet.

Warcraft III: Reforged Gets a New Campaign

Blizzard revealed a new Warcraft III: Reforged campaign called Forsaken Kingdom, adding 30 hours of content, a reworked prologue, refreshed visuals, and a map editor. There's a new unit too, an undead paladin. Forsaken Kingdom is live on Battle.net right now.

World of Warcraft Closes One Chapter, Opens Another

Midnight's closing patch is called Eclipse. After that, the next full expansion is The Last Titan, due in 2027.

World of Warcraft: Forever — Classic+

Then the one everyone's been waiting years for: Classic+, officially named World of Warcraft: Forever. It launches November 4, 2026 — seven weeks from now. Beta starts Thursday, and it's already playable on the BlizzCon show floor.

What it brings:

• New dungeons
• 10- and 20-player raids
• A playable Dracthyr race
• New and expanded zones
• Account-wide perks
• Updated world graphics and lighting
• New race and class combinations
• Over 1,000 new quests

Blizzard clearly had more up its sleeve than expected. A new Diablo, not another expansion. A Classic+ launching in weeks, not months. And StarCraft, finally, coming back after all these years — even if 2030 feels a long way off.