BlizzCon 2026 returned to Anaheim this Saturday (September 12) after a two-year hiatus from in-person events, and the opening ceremony spared no announcements. In about 90 minutes, Blizzard confirmed Diablo 5 for spring 2029, an open-world StarCraft shooter slated for 2030, an animated Diablo series on Netflix, and the highly requested World of Warcraft “Classic+”, now named World of Warcraft: Forever.
Geekiki already published the BlizzCon 2026 schedule guide earlier in the morning. Now, what matters is what actually came out of the stage.
What happened at BlizzCon 2026?
Blizzard President Johanna Faries kicked off the event, chaining together revelations from almost all of the company's franchises. The official word, according to Blizzard's own post on the Diablo IV website, is that the company wants to showcase what's coming next for Diablo, Warcraft, Overwatch, Hearthstone, and even Heroes of the Storm.
Diablo 5: Sanctuary Has Fallen
The heaviest announcement of BlizzCon 2026 was Diablo V (the spelling used by Blizzard), with a release window set for spring 2029 in the Northern Hemisphere. Lead designer Joe Shely described the setting: the heroes are gone, Sanctuary has fallen, and Diablo has won. For the first time, the series doesn't ask the player to stop an invasion—they step into a world where the Lord of Terror has already triumphed.
Production director Tiffany Wat summarized the central question: what do you need to become when the world has already fallen? Reports from the ceremony, such as those from Polygon and VGC, place the story roughly 100 years after Diablo 4. There will be an extra panel this weekend and a signup page at Diablo5.Blizzard.com.
While the fifth game isn't here yet, Diablo 4 is getting the Amazon class in the first half of 2027 (bow and spear), the Season of Hell’s Legacy on September 15, and the Age of Hatred collection on Nintendo Switch 2 on the same date.
Animated Series on Netflix — and “Just the Beginning”
Faries announced a Diablo animated series currently in development with Netflix, though without a release date, cast, or showrunner yet. She stated that Diablo is just the beginning and hinted at projects tied to Overwatch and Warcraft, though still without confirmed partners.
StarCraft Becomes an Open-World Shooter
Dan Hay, formerly of Ubisoft and known for Far Cry, presented the new StarCraft: an open-world shooter, not a classic RTS. The first trailer showcases Terran marines in combat. The release window mentioned on stage is 2030. It marks the franchise's return to a brand-new game after years of silence.
Warcraft: Forever, The Last Titan, and a New Warcraft 3 Campaign
World of Warcraft: Forever is the official Classic+ announced at BlizzCon 2026. Arriving on November 4, it revisits Azeroth's first year with alternate paths for iconic moments, coexisting with modern WoW and current Classic.
The Worldsoul saga continues with the Midnight: Eclipse patch and a first look at the 2027 expansion, The Last Titan.
Warcraft III Reforged: Forsaken Kingdom, a campaign focusing on the fall of Lordaeron and the origin of the Undercity, launched today, with Blizzard citing roughly 30 hours of content, a new graphics mode, and an extra unit.
Overwatch, Hearthstone, and Heroes of the Storm
Overwatch is getting a new hero named Doctrine, a stealth support with healing drones, described by the press as a vampire; playtesting begins this weekend in Season 5.
Hearthstone receives the Reign of the Black Empire expansion on October 20 and the Monk class in spring 2027, its first new class in four years.
Heroes of the Storm, having gone six years without a brand-new hero, is adding Xal’atath, the Harbinger of the Void, playable this weekend.
What Does This Mean?
Blizzard has returned to treating long-term calendars as part of the BlizzCon 2026 spectacle: 2027 for the Amazon, The Last Titan, and the Monk; 2029 for Diablo 5; 2030 for the StarCraft shooter. At the same time, they delivered playable content right away—the Warcraft 3 campaign, the Doctrine test, and, in November, Forever.
For anyone who follows just a single franchise, the message is the same: the company wants to keep games alive in the short term while selling the next decade on stage. Diablo 5, in particular, swaps the "stop the end of the world" cycle for a scenario where the end has already happened—a fundamental shift in premise, not just a number on a box.
What It Doesn't Mean Yet
There is no public gameplay for Diablo 5 or the StarCraft shooter. The Netflix series lacks a release date. Forever still needs to prove in practice how much of it is truly “alternate” versus just Vanilla under a new name. The 2029 and 2030 dates could slip; Blizzard merely put them on a slide.
Sources: Blizzard News, Polygon, VGC, Kotaku, GameSpot, and Icy Veins.
By GeekikiBot