Blizzard Entertainment closed a three-year BlizzCon gap with a two-day event in Anaheim on September 12 and 13, 2026, and used it to announce a new numbered Diablo, a third World of Warcraft line, a Hearthstone expansion, and an Overwatch support hero. The company also opened Battle.net further to CD PROJEKT RED and put a Switch 2 version of Diablo IV in attendees' hands.
Blizzard's 2026 news cycle is built around one event. BlizzCon ran September 12 and 13 at the Anaheim Convention Center, its first edition in three years, and news ran across Diablo, Overwatch, StarCraft, World of Warcraft and Hearthstone. Before the show, Blizzard sold BlizzCon Digital Bundle and BlizzCon Ultimate Collection packages from 3,350 yen on the Battle.net shop, covering in-game items for World of Warcraft, Overwatch, Diablo IV, Diablo Immortal, and Hearthstone.
The Diablo announcements were the heaviest. Diablo V was revealed with a teaser titled "Resurrection" and a spring 2029 release schedule; an animated Diablo series with Netflix is in production. Warcraft III: Reforged got Forsaken Kingdom, a paid campaign released the same day it was announced, billed as the first completely new single-player story in 23 years, with Patch 3.0 adding a Definitive Edition graphics mode. Diablo IV: Age of Hatred Collection arrives on Nintendo Switch 2 on September 15, 2026, with a Japanese release on September 16 and crossplay and cross-progression support. World of Warcraft: Forever, built by the WoW: Classic team, is scheduled for November 4 with a beta starting September 17, and comes with a World of Warcraft subscription.
Overwatch news covered a new support hero, Doctrine, an aim-based support with bat-like drones and a limited trial from September 12 to 15, plus reworks for Sombra and Roadhog and the escort map Watchpoint: Grimsvotn. Hearthstone detailed Reign of the Black Empire, returning to the Old Gods, with the Monk class arriving with next year's first expansion. Blizzard also announced Cyberpunk 2077, its Phantom Liberty expansion, and the Ultimate Edition bundle for Battle.net starting in late 2026, The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt Remastered for September 29, and 2027 Overwatch content themed on Cyberpunk: Edgerunners.
Pokemon's 30th anniversary was the backdrop to a set of announcements that pushed in two directions. The Pokemon Center's Dusknoir figure went up for preorder, Pikachu and Eevee skins hit Fortnite, and a Pokemon-themed McDonald's Japan promotion targeted holidays and New Year. The Pokemon Company's Hiroshi Matsumoto framed yearly conventions as the test of that strategy. Also set for 2026: Pokemon Pokopia on Switch 2, PokePark Kanto's opening, and a Pokemon Concierge stop-motion follow-up.
Synthesized by Yomimono from the cited Yomimono stories below, each itself sourced, then editorially reviewed. Every fact links the story it came from.
Structured graph also available as JSON at /public/entities/blizzard-entertainment.
CC BY 4.0.
When a claim about Blizzard Entertainment was confirmed, debunked, or disputed against open-web sources. The record stays even after a claim drops off the facts list.
The official Stellar Blade account on X posted a teaser on October 23, 2026 for an EVE Protocol collaboration with Overwatch, pairing the game's plan name with Blizzard's shooter. Stellar Blade is the action adventure from SHIFT UP, the studio behind Goddess of Victory: NIKKE, and Eve is the protagonist sent to Earth under the EVE Protocol. No date or content for the crossover was given.
BlizzCon ran September 12 and 13 at the Anaheim Convention Center, closing a two-day event held for the first time in three years. The show covered news for Diablo, Overwatch, StarCraft, World of Warcraft and Hearthstone, with YOASOBI playing a mini-live as the Overwatch World Cup halftime show and LE SSERAFIM holding a concert on the main stage after the closing remarks.
Blizzard announced Warcraft III: Reforged: Forsaken Kingdom on the BlizzCon 2026 stage and released it the same day. The paid campaign is the first completely new single-player story in 23 years, since 2003's The Frozen Throne. It runs roughly 30 hours, opening with a four-mission prologue, The Last Days of Lordaeron, and follows the birth of the Forsaken and the building of Undercity. Patch 3.0 adds a Definitive Edition graphics mode and a new tavern hero.
Blizzard detailed Hearthstone's next expansion, Reign of the Black Empire, at BlizzCon 2026, held September 12 and 13 in the United States. Senior game design manager Brenden Sewell and executive producer Nathan Lyons-Smith said the expansion returns to the Old Gods with an adjusted Yogg-Saron and a new Assembly keyword, and that the Monk class arrives with next year's first expansion.
At BlizzCon 2026 in Anaheim, Blizzard announced that Cyberpunk 2077, its Phantom Liberty expansion, and the Cyberpunk 2077: Ultimate Edition bundle will be sold on Battle.net starting in late 2026. The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt Remastered arrives September 29. Overwatch content themed on Cyberpunk: Edgerunners and its sequel is set for 2027.
Blizzard Entertainment's BlizzCon demo let attendees play the Nintendo Switch 2 version of Diablo IV: Age of Hatred Collection, including content from the new season Jailbreak Inheritance. The trial ran without lag or stuttering, and loads were fast. Players took on a dungeon quest called A Journey Through the Past, fighting Belial from Diablo III, then Mephisto and Baal from Diablo II. The Age of Hatred Collection is scheduled for September 16 at 8,400 yen.
Blizzard Entertainment announced the support hero Doctrine for Overwatch at BlizzCon 2026, held September 12 and 13 at the Anaheim Convention Center. Doctrine is an aim-based support who uses bat-like drones, with a left click that both attacks enemies and heals allies. Executive producer Ben Bell and associate game director Alec Dawson described Doctrine in interviews as an approachable hero with a two-charge secondary fire called Infuse that powers up the next ability. A limited-time trial runs from September 12 to September 15. Blizzard also announced large-scale reworks for Sombra and Roadhog. Sombra moves from damage to support, gaining an instant heal and a heal-over-time of 200 HP across 12 seconds, plus a new area ability called Cyberspace that replaces Virus. Roadhog keeps his Chain Hook, and his Scrap Gun now fires two shots. The new escort map Watchpoint: Grimsvotn, set in an Icelandic prison where Doomfist and Talon rescue the jailed Doctrine, was also revealed.
Blizzard Entertainment announced at BlizzCon 2026 in Anaheim that Diablo IV: Age of Hatred Collection will release on September 15, 2026, with a Japanese release on September 16. The package includes the base game, the Vessel of Hatred and Lord of Hatred expansions, and supports Japanese. The Switch 2 version supports crossplay and cross-progression, requires an internet connection and a Battle.net account, and ships in code-in-box format.
Blizzard Entertainment announced World of Warcraft: Forever at its community event BlizzCon2026. The team behind WoW: Classic is developing it, and it becomes the third World of Warcraft experience alongside Modern and Classic. It adds three zones, more than 1,000 quests, nine dungeons, two raids, and the new race Skyborn. Release is scheduled for November 4, with a beta starting September 17. Access comes with a World of Warcraft subscription.
Blizzard Entertainment announced Diablo V during the company-hosted community event BlizzCon 2026, with a teaser trailer titled "Resurrection" released alongside the reveal. The game is in development and scheduled for release in spring 2029, with no price yet attached. The announcement came as a surprise at the event. Blizzard's development team is set to appear for a panel titled "Diablo V: Creating the Next Era," where the world setting and other details are expected to be introduced. Separately, an animated series based on the Diablo series is in production with Netflix. The Diablo account on X posted that the team is in development on the new animated series with Netflix, dated September 12, 2026. Diablo is a long-running hack-and-slash franchise, and Diablo V is the next numbered entry, announced at the same convention where the prior news cycle was expected.
Blizzard Entertainment and K-pop group LE SSERAFIM will launch their third collaboration on September 13. The event runs for a limited time, with no end date announced. New skins, emotes, and limited challenges will be added to Overwatch. The collaboration was announced on the official Overwatch X account on September 1. A teaser visual shows heroes in black outfits styled as ending fairies, with the recently added hero D.Mon making a finger heart at the center. Male hero Mizuki appears as a sixth member dancing behind the group. The schedule includes a music video for LE SSERAFIM's new single "Made My Night" on September 11, co-produced with Overwatch. On September 13, collab skins go live, a gameplay trailer drops, and BlizzCon 2026 will feature gameplay streaming. LE SSERAFIM will perform at BlizzCon on September 14. This follows the 2023 "Perfect Night" collaboration and a 2025 in-game event with hip-hop fashion skins. Blizzard's Walter Kong called the 2023 collab an unforgettable moment and expressed excitement for the new video and stage.
Blizzard Entertainment and CD PROJEKT RED announced a partnership on August 26. The first step is a Geralt-themed skin for Diablo IV, obtainable by pre-purchasing or purchasing the new The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt expansion pack 'Memories of Reminiscence' on Battle.net. The skin's appearance is unrevealed, with details planned for BlizzCon 2026 on September 12-13 in Anaheim.
Blizzard Entertainment has started selling the BlizzCon Digital Bundle and BlizzCon Ultimate Collection on the Battle.net shop, priced from 3,350 yen. The bundles commemorate BlizzCon 2026, which runs September 12-13 at the Anaheim Convention Center, and include in-game items for World of Warcraft, Overwatch, Diablo IV, Diablo Immortal, and Hearthstone.
Blizzard Entertainment announced the abilities of Shion, a new DPS hero for Overwatch, on June 12. The dual-pistol-wielding, motorcycle-riding cyber-yakuza flanker arrives with Season 3 on June 17 Japan time. The season also adds a new hybrid map, Neon Junction, set in Tokyo.