blizzcon What to Expect from Blizzconline 2021? (Predictions)

[Stan 5,240]

Blizzconline 2021 takes place from February 19-20, so we speculate about what's in for each game.

World of Warcraft

Shadowlands has been out for 2 months now with no 9.1 in sight. Obviously, we're in for a treat when it comes to WoW. It's almost 100% certain Blizzard will unveil Patch 9.1 and what comes with it. We think Public Test Realms will go live shortly after the event. Blizzard could also give us a short glimpse at what to expect from future Shadowlands content patches, like 9.1.5, 9.2, and 9.3.

The Burning Crusade Classic

Now that WoW Classic is over, it's time to find out what's next. We expect Blizzard to reveal The Burning Crusade Classic, start of the testing phase and, possibly, a release date too.

Diablo 4

We know Diablo 4 is still early in development, and the game was announced more than one year ago at BlizzCon 2019. Since then, we've seen many quarterly updates, where the devs unveiled more details about the game's systems, art, and more. Now, it would be really nice to see some F&F Technical Alpha. We think it's too soon for an actual release date just yet, so we're sticking to a playable Alpha.

Diablo Immortal

The game has been in development for a really long time, and Technical Alpha has ended December 18, 2020. Chances are the developers will announce Closed Beta and the game's release date at Blizzconline.

Overwatch 2

We haven't heard about the game for an eternity. Let's hope Blizzard will break the silence and have something in store for Overwatch's next installment.

Hearthstone

I'm not really much in the loop when it comes to Hearthstone, so I reached out to our guide writer Kat, who thinks Blizzard will tease the standard rotation for the year that takes place in April. Hearthstone years have a monster-naming convention, like Year of the Dragon, Mammoth, Phoenix, and so forth. We might see a new one along with a roadmap for the year and a new game mode.

Heroes of the Storm

2020 has been a really tough year for Heroes of the Storm. Many developers have left the team, and we haven't seen much news either, besides the regular balance patches. Let's hope the underdog of Blizzard games is at least getting one panel and a new Hero at the event. On December 1 we got Hogger, so it's entirely possible we won't see anything HotS-related at the event.

Conclusion

We think Blizzconline 2021 will be mostly about Diablo IV and World of Warcraft.

[Migol 433]

I'm almost hoping they cancel "Overwatch 2", and release the single player game as a DLC.    Played it at Blizzcon and that's all it felt like; the single player game was in the same vein as single player campaign mode Warcraft III or Starcraft I/II...you advance, get some powerups at checkpoints, and continue adding powers and heroes till the story's end.    The multiplayer was just Overwatch with a slightly (really hard to notice) shinier paintjob, the same gameplay down to jump height, movement speed etc.

[bambina 7]

Overwatch is dead. A DLC, which is basically what it is, costs 60 bucks, this franchise is done. Sure, they will make a ton of money and will meet the investors expectations but at what cost when in just a few months it will have less players than it currently has. 

Edited January 25, 2021 by bambina

[Gnueless 13]

A new Hero reveal for Heroes of the Storm seems very unlikely, as we’re not due for a (full) Content Patch before the beginning of April - and we all remember Deathwing in 2019. On top of that, it has been officially stated that Hogger was intended as the “Blizzcon Hero”. However, that doesn’t mean that we can’t get new Skins and Mounts, which is *very* apparent from the game files.

Hero reveals seems almost guaranteed for Diablo IV, as we heard from the Quarterly Update that it involves a new version of the campfire scene they showed us last BlizzCon. That’s a pretty good hint!

Edited January 26, 2021 by Gnueless

[Rhondis 148]

3 hours ago, Stan said:

Hearthstone

I'm not really much in the loop when it comes to Hearthstone, so I reached out to our guide writer Kat, who thinks Blizzard will tease the standard rotation for the year that takes place in April. Hearthstone years have a monster-naming convention, like Year of the Dragon, Mammoth, Phoenix, and so forth. We might see a new one along with a roadmap for the year and a new game mode.

Speaking of Hearthstone, I have noticed little to no articles in a long time. Did the site just give up on reporting about Hearthstone? 

[GBeast 33]

genuinely shocked that you made no mention of tbc classic

[Staff 1,488]

1 hour ago, GBeast said:

genuinely shocked that you made no mention of tbc classic

I completely forgot about TBC Classic, added.

13 hours ago, Rhondis said:

Speaking of Hearthstone, I have noticed little to no articles in a long time. Did the site just give up on reporting about Hearthstone? 

Hearthstone news barely got any views, so we stopped covering them.

[Arcnail 3]

D2: Resurrected sounds like a strong possibility as well with the new rumors out there. I expect them to top off the D4 chat with it as D4 still won't be out for a while, but in the interim, here's a D2 remaster everyone.

[Znifler 58]

On 1/25/2021 at 10:01 PM, bambina said:

Overwatch is dead. A DLC, which is basically what it is, costs 60 bucks, this franchise is done. Sure, they will make a ton of money and will meet the investors expectations but at what cost when in just a few months it will have less players than it currently has. 

I find this as cringeworthy as "WoW is dead" posts that has tried to be 'cool' since - forever. Yet, Overwatch is far from it, as is WoW. They will continue to grow, and dip in playerbase, as all games do with time. Yet these games never truly die.

[Znifler 58]

On 1/26/2021 at 11:28 AM, GBeast said:

genuinely shocked that you made no mention of tbc classic

There is a big note about it, with images. Was it added after your comment maybe?

 

EDIT. I saw the comments bellow. Indeed he forgot and added after u noticed. Niz.

Edited January 27, 2021 by Znifler

[Zelendel 9]

This will be the first time that if I miss it I really wont be all that upset about it. Nothing really overly interesting going on this year.