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What To Expect From BlizzCon 2026: StarCraft’s Return, A Whole Lot Of Warcraft
BlizzCon 2026 begins September 12, and while there is big news every time developer Blizzard decides to host its fan convention, after a two-year hiatus, this year's show in particular seems poised to be a major occasion for fans of Blizzard franchises like Warcraft, StarCraft, Diablo, and Overwatch.
Blizzard president Johanna Faries hasn't been shy about hyping up this year's show in interviews, calling 2026 Blizzard's "biggest year yet." She said its various development teams are "cooking on big swings" across its key franchises and that this year's BlizzCon will reflect the studio's goal of being the "best gaming and entertainment company in the world." BlizzCon's announcements will deliver the "heart and soul" of what fans want out of a BlizzCon, she said, while still "bringing some very new things to the table."
What, then, should fans expect from what is being billed as the biggest year in Blizzard history? Let's dive into what to expect from BlizzCon 2026, as well as a few predictions.
A Whole Lot Of Warcraft
For years, BlizzCon essentially served as a new World of Warcraft expansion vessel. Blizzard would get on stage, announce a new expansion with a jaw-dropping cinematic, and then dive into all the details of the new expansion.
That will still likely happen this year, though we do already know the name and setting of WoW's next expansion, The Last Titan, since Blizzard announced an entire trilogy of expansions back at BlizzCon 2023. The reveal of the expansion's cinematic and more details, including its revamp of Northrend, major new features, and possibly a release date, is a given. Expect to learn more about Midnight's 12.2 patch as well.
However, there's likely to be more Warcraft this year than perhaps any other time in Blizzard's history. In addition to The Last Titan, it's not exactly a secret that Blizzard is cooking up a new version of WoW Classic, unofficially called Classic+ by the community. What form this version of Classic will take is still unknown, but many fans expect it to serve almost as an alternate timeline for WoW where the game didn't release new expansions every few years and instead turned its focus to the core regions of Azeroth fans were already familiar with. That could mean Blizzard finishing or expanding zones from original WoW, class redesigns, additional endgame content, or even new playable races and classes.
Dataminers discovered a reference to a new build for Classic called "Camelot" within Blizzard's files earlier this year. That codename at first glance didn't mean much but was quickly connected to a once-dismissed Warcraft release slate leak from last year that mentioned Camelot by name.
That connection suddenly made the leak much more credible overall, and it shows Camelot could possibly release this year shortly after BlizzCon. This, of course, wouldn't be out of the ordinary for WoW Classic. The game's previous experiment that many saw as a testing ground for Classic+, Season of Discovery, was announced at BlizzCon 2023 in early November and was then released only a few weeks later. It certainly seems like history could repeat for Classic+, Camelot, or whatever Blizzard officially calls it.
But Classic+ is far from the only new Warcraft project included on the alleged leaked release slate. According to the alleged leak, Blizzard may also be making a new Warcraft RTS titled Warcraft Chronicles for 2027, as well as an Arthas RPG spin-off for 2028.
Those would be huge news on their own, but beyond games, the leak additionally lists a tie-in television show for each game. The idea of Blizzard working on television shows isn't as far-fetched as it sounds. Faries said in an interview earlier this year Blizzard has had "exciting conversations" about Hollywood adaptations of its IP, while Blizzard VP and executive producer for WoW Holly Longdale has been on record that the Warcraft IP is "underutilized" and that Blizzard wants to expand it beyond just WoW.
It's possible the leaked slate is years old and no longer accurate (or just an extremely coincidental fake), but it wouldn't be surprising if all of what it detailed and more appeared at BlizzCon.
StarCraft Is Back In A Big Way
StarCraft has been a largely dormant franchise for close to a decade. The last major DLC for StarCraft 2 released in 2017, the same year StarCraft: Remastered released. Since then, Blizzard's sci-fi franchise has been relegated to cosmetic crossovers in other Blizzard games like Diablo 4 and Hearthstone.
That looks to be finally changing at BlizzCon this year. Persistent reports have indicated Blizzard is working on a StarCraft shooter of some kind, though additional details on what kind have been scarce. There are also reports Blizzard is partnering with Korean video game giant Nexon for a licensing deal that could potentially see Nexon develop new StarCraft games.
At least one new StarCraft title getting revealed at BlizzCon this year seems like a certainty, though it's possible Blizzard also officially announces its partnership with Nexon as well.
Blizzard is sending clear signals that something is happening on the StarCraft front. The website for StarCraft: Remastered recently started "glitching" out, perhaps serving as a not so subtle nod that news is on the way. Those "glitches" have revealed secret transmissions and bits of new lore that look to be setting the stage for Blizzard's shooter.
Fans are theorizing the game could be a PvE co-op shooter in the vein of Helldivers 2, where a team of players land on an abandoned lunar mining facility overrun by Zerg, have to complete objectives, and then extract. Or it could be the triumphant return of StarCraft: Ghosts, though my money would be on the PvE co-op shooter. Regardless, StarCraft will almost certainly make a return at this year's BlizzCon, though its new form may disappoint RTS fans.
Diablo New And Old
What Blizzard is cooking up on the Diablo front is largely a mystery. It is, however, Diablo's 30th anniversary, so it seems safe to bet Blizzard will be announcing big news about the franchise at the show. A Diablo 30th anniversary presentation earlier this year concluded with Blizzard teasing a major BlizzCon announcement, stating "they are going to freak out at BlizzCon when we announce" a moment before the end of the broadcast.
Alongside a Switch 2 port of Diablo 4, the announcement of a new Diablo 4 expansion, alongside a reveal cinematic, is almost a given. Blizzard once pledged yearly expansions for Diablo 4. That didn't come to pass, but the gap between the game's Vessel of Hatred and Lord of Hatred expansion's was faster than Diablo fans are used to, with a little over a year and a half between them. With Lord of Hatred having been released back in April, a new expansion in the back half of 2027 seems plausible.
Blizzard certainly has no shortage of villains to choose from, with Diablo himself having still failed to make an appearance in Diablo 4. The return of Malthael could also be in the cards, with the game's latest season making multiple not so subtle references to the fallen angel. Aside from a new expansion, Blizzard has already promised more details and surprises related to Season 15.
Of course, Diablo as a franchise is bigger than Diablo 4. Earlier this year, Diablo 2: Resurrected received new content in the form of the Reign of the Warlock DLC, adding a new class and some long-requested quality-of-life features to the classic ARPG. There's also Diablo Immortal, the ongoing mobile game Blizzard co-operates with NetEase.
A quick look at the BlizzCon schedule reveals there sure is a lot of time dedicated to a Diablo Immortal "event" across both days of the show, something fans are finding suspicious. It would certainly be bold of Blizzard to dedicate so much time and space to the game that led to the most memed moment in BlizzCon history, the infamous "do you guys not have phones?" moment from Diablo Immortal's reveal Q&A during BlizzCon 2018. That fact has led some fans to speculate that surely there must be something else related to Diablo coming that will take up more of that timeblock. The real question is what.
It wouldn't be surprising if Blizzard announced a new Diablo 2 expansion. The demand clearly seems to be there given the reception to Reign of the Warlock, and there are still plenty of Diablo fans who view D2 as the pinnacle of the series in much the same way WoW Classic fans put vanilla WoW above all subsequent versions. Given it's the franchise's 30th anniversary, a potential remake of the original Diablo also seems like a possibility, though what form that might take is more uncertain.
Overwatch Keeps Its Momentum
Overwatch has had a big year so far, with Blizzard essentially rebooting its hero shooter by dropping the "2" from its name, putting an emphasis on year-long storylines, and adding more playable heroes this year than ever before. The game added five new heroes at once earlier this year, and has continued to add a new hero every season since.
Going into BlizzCon 2026, I expect Blizzard to keep that momentum going into next year. By abandoning Overwatch 2's promised PvE story missions back in 2024 and even ceasing new content development for the game's newest game mode, Stadium, Blizzard looks to be focusing on what works and cutting out what doesn't. That's resulting in more events, cosmetics, crossovers, and heroes faster than ever, and Blizzard is no doubt putting more resources into ensuring that gravy train continues.
As for what that means for BlizzCon, expect new map reveals and plenty of new hero announcements. Blizzard hasn't yet revealed the game's next hero coming as part of Season 5, so that's a shoo-in. There's a good chance a hero trial for the Season 5 hero goes live during BlizzCon, as was the case with Mauga's reveal at BlizzCon 2023. Season 6's new hero, and heroes even beyond that, will likely be revealed as well. Though Blizzard initially only promised a new hero for each 2026 season, I would be shocked if the new hero per season status quo doesn't continue into 2027.
BlizzCon will also likely set the stage for the finale of Overwatch's 2026 storyline, The Reign of Talon. Story has been a big focus for Overwatch this year, with plenty of comics, short stories, and animations propelling the game's narrative forward. In addition to getting a good look at how 2026's storyline will conclude, I expect to learn where the story will be going next, too, with Blizzard possibly announcing the name and theme of 2027's seasonal story arc.
One big question is whether Blizzard reveals a new core Overwatch game mode. Blizzard's track record hasn't been great on this front. Clash, added in 2024, hasn't been popular and was removed from both competitive and quickplay. Stadium was added last year, but its low player count saw Blizzard recently announce it was putting the mode on life support. I would be surprised then if Blizzard attempts to throw another new mode at the wall and see if it sticks so soon after Stadium's failure, as it seems like its resources would be better spent elsewhere.
Rather than announcing a brand new mode, Blizzard may instead put more emphasis on 6v6. It's no secret Blizzard has been experimenting more and more with 6v6 in recent months. While I don't expect 5v5 to vanish, the introduction of a proper, permanent role queue for 6v6 seems like a real possibility.
Whatever Blizzard is cooking across its franchises, fans won't have to wait long to learn what's in store. BlizzCon's opening ceremony begins September 12 at 10:30 AM PT / 1:30 PM ET.
