BlizzCon 2023's Opening Ceremony Live Blog - Keeping Up With All Of Today's Big Announcements

I went into BlizzCon expecting big World of Warcraft announcements, and we certainly got a bunch of them, but I can’t rightfully say I was right about any. However, I still think Iridikron will remain an antagonist throughout the next expansion, and it won’t be until Midnight that we’ll actually deal with him for the last time. I did not expect to get three expansion announcements, and some of the features coming with The War Within were also surprising. Additionally, 10.2 went live, and I have some thoughts about how that is progressing. Let’s jump in!

Each year at Blizzcon, attendees experience the exhilarating rush of the crowd, special events and panels, and of course, as many photo ops as you want — and this year, the Diablo 4 presentation in Hall A had some incredible ones! A strange sight was beheld by those attending BlizzCon 2023; common folk from all across the lands gathered — to be sacrificed. It is not yet known as to whether it be the work of some afflicted spell of compulsion, or if these people came so willingly out of some twisted malevolence or perhaps even some promise of power.

After the success of Illumination’s The Super Mario Bros. Movie this year, Nintendo has revealed a is on the way.

Rumours of a movie based on The Legend of Zelda have been popping up for years at this point, but now, that has been officially confirmed by Nintendo. Following the success of The Super Mario Bros. Movie earlier this year, Nintendo has now announced that it’s working on a live action adaptation of The Legend of Zelda. 

World of Warcraft: Cataclysm is perhaps one of the most divisive, if not the most divisive, expansion that has graced the wildly popular MMORPG. With it came a plethora of new dungeons, two entirely new races (one for the Horde and Alliance, respectively), and a drastic change to the world map. But Blizzard Entertainment is dedicated to preserving the nostalgia that’s integral to the success of World of Warcraft: Classic while also keeping modern sensibilities in mind to cater to players who may have missed these pivotal moments in the MMORPG’s history. This includes some user interface revamps, the inclusion of new systems like the Season of Discovery, and more that the Classic team is working on delivering once Deathwing soars back into Azeroth to wreak havoc for a second time.

World of Warcraft: The War Within is the next expansion set to release for the decades-long-running MMORPG. Touted as during the BlizzCon 2023 Opening Ceremony part of the culmination of nearly twenty years of Warcraft history, The War Within is the first of three chapters that will see the resolution to narrative threads that have been dangling for years. And like any expansion, it will feature new areas for players to discover, along with more than a handful of dungeons and encounters they can tackle at varying difficulties.

Following the successful release of Season of Blood, Blizzard's Diablo IV team unveiled the first expansion at BlizzCon 2023: Vessel of Hatred.

During BlizzCon 2023, the World of Warcraft team announced that the next few expansions would be releasing at a faster pace than players are used to, highlighted by the fact that the MMO developer showcased the next three expansions on stage. The team's development process to do so apparently is a result of feedback from Shadowlands' glacial pace of content releases, according to the developers in a group interview over the weekend.

One of the core pillars of gaming is sharing — sharing experiences and moments with others to laugh, cry, and build long lasting friendships. What better way to exemplify the spirit of sharing than with charity? Gaming has always had a long history of charity with charity streams, events like GDQ, contests, and more. Blizzard is no exception to this, with millions of charity pets sold to raise many millions of dollars for good causes. To celebrate BlizzCon this year and the spirit of sharing, Blizzard is now hosting a charity auction online for people to bid on numerous pieces of signed artwork and other great additions to any fan’s collection. The proceeds of this year’s virtual auction will go to Direct Relief, which provides healthcare facilities in resource-poor areas with medicines and supplies in 100+ countries around the world. BlizzCon 2023 Charity Auction Page All Charity Auctions from Blizzard The auctions shown below are some of the ones we liked the most, but you can see them all on theBlizzard Charity Auction eBay Page.

BlizzCon 2023 has ended but we have the latest World of Warcraft  news coverage right here.

This year at BlizzCon 2023, Wowhead was lucky to sit down for an exclusive interview with Senior Narrative Director Anne Stickley and Associate Game Director Tina Wang, discussing The War Within, open world endgame Delve content, and Heroic Talent philosophies! Read our full transcript below.

In a group interview with Associate Design Director Maria Hamilton and Lead World Artist Kristy Moret at BlizzCon 2023, the developers discussed the future of WoW in The War Within expansion including narrative focus, zone design, Warbands, Dynamic Flight, and AI at Blizzard.