Serving the Fullerton Community Since 1922

The Hornet

The Hornet

Serving the Fullerton Community Since 1922

The Hornet

Blizzcon 2019 makes exciting gaming announcements

Blizzcon 2019 happened this past weekend at the Anaheim Convention center and a lot of new gaming content was announced to be released in the near future.

They also had a lot of exhibits, events and panels throughout the convention to get everyone excited for what’s yet to come.

Overwatch 2 announced on the Mythic Stage
Jeff Kaplan, the vice president of Blizzard Entertainment and lead designer of Overwatch announces Overwatch 2. Photo credit: Cheyenne Ridgley

Some of the huge announcements were Overwatch 2, World of Warcraft announced their new expansion, Shadowlands and Diablo IV is coming soon.

The panels consisted of the developers and creators talking more in depth about what is next for the new content. Other panels involved game artists showing the creative process and voice actors speaking about their experience voicing popular characters.

The convention also had a walk-through, immersive experience to see the art and creative processes going into the development of Diablo IV. The walk-through ended with a photo op to keep as a souvenir and a poster with the developers signatures.

Diablo IV
The immersive Diablo IV walk-through. Photo credit: Cheyenne Ridgley

Hundreds of computers were set up throughout the convention for gamers to wait in line to experience demos of all this new content and be amongst the first to experience it.

Esports were a huge part of the convention with each of their popular titles competitive scene.

The convention hosted the World of Warcraft Arena World Championships, Mythic Dungeon International, Overwatch World Cup, Hearthstone Grandmasters Global Finals and the Starcraft II World Championship Series Global Finals.

At the Hearthstone Grandmasters Global Finals history was made with the first female, Xiaomeng ‘Liooon’ Li, ever to win the Blizzcon title and take home the trophy.

Blizzard Arcade
Blizzard Arcade featured a throwback of some of their old games and had a very nostalgic 90's charm. Photo credit: Cheyenne Ridgley

There were other experiences like the Blizzard Arcade where gamers could be immersed into the nostalgic Blizzard games from their earlier years back in the ’90s and were able to play them.

Bar areas were set up throughout the convention with themes from their different games and live musicians playing music from these games.

The Darkmoon Faire, a fair that takes place in the World of Warcraft game, was set up for fans to feel immersed as if they were at the fair exactly as it appears in the game.

The game Warcraft celebrated its 25th year anniversary this year at Blizzcon as well as World of Warcraft’s 15th year anniversary. Guests were able to purchase eight dollar beers from Bottle Logic at the event served in a special anniversary cup to toast to the occasion.

Blizzcon ended its weekend with musical entertainment by The Glitch Mob, Fitz and the Tantrums and Haywyre.

Overall the convention had something for everyone to enjoy and left fans with high hopes with all the upcoming changes coming to their favorite video games.