IRVINE, Calif.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--At BlizzCon® 2017, more than 30,000 players gathered to experience the latest updates to their favorite Blizzard games and cheer on top esports competitors, with millions more joining online. Over two days packed with developer panels, friendly competition, and live entertainment, the Blizzard community learned about and went hands-on with new heroes, new gameplay updates, and new expansions coming to the company’s blockbuster franchises.
Attendees and viewers also witnessed the dramatic conclusions to three esports championships and three exhibition-style competitions:
StarCraft® II World Championship Series Global Finals
Winner: Rogue
With two championship titles already under his belt in 2017, Rogue arrived on the global stage at BlizzCon as a favorite to win the whole tournament. Once he got warmed up in the grand final against soO, he showed the world he definitely deserves the title of WCS Global Champion with a 4–2 series win.
Heroes of the Storm® Global Championship Finals
Winning team: MVP Black
MVP Black and Fnatic met in the final match of the HGC Finals after both teams moved past the semis with 3–0 wins. When the dust settled, it was MVP Black standing tall over the Swedish powerhouse with a 3–1 victory after a barnburner of a finale. MVP Black’s unwavering determination and dedication to their craft was enough to secure them their first trophy at BlizzCon.
World of Warcraft® Arena World Championship
Winning team: ABC
The European streak continues as ABC sweeps Panda Global in the most decisive championship match in the history of the tournament. Working against a hostile crowd, ABC triumphed behind the Arcane Mage play of Alex ‘Alec’ Sheldrick to bring the WoW Arena trophy to Europe for the fourth straight year.
Overwatch® World Cup
Winning nation: South Korea
South Korea was always expected to be the “final boss” at BlizzCon—and runner-up Canada fought valiantly in taking a single map—but in the end the story finished as expected. Ryujehong and company’s sudden vulnerability didn’t make a difference as South Korea goes two-for-two in Overwatch World Cup Championships.
Hearthstone® Inn-vitational
Winning team: Grimestreet Grifters
After two days of frenetic and varied play among the 12 community personalities, the Grimestreet Grifters—comprised of Andrey 'Reynad' Yanyuk, Hakjun 'Kranich' Baek, and Pathra Cadness—emerged victorious. The best-of-11 finals saw the format of each game drawn from a sealed envelope, and players were individually eliminated from the stage until the Grifters claimed the trophy 6–5 over the Chillblade Crusaders.
StarCraft: Remastered Ultimate Title Fight
Winner: Bisu
Although Lee “Jaedong” Jae Dong and Kim “Bisu” Taek Yong’s lengthy careers largely overlapped, they hardly ever played each other outside of team leagues. That changed when the two StarCraft legends met in the Ultimate Title Fight, a best-of-five showmatch with $25,000 on the line. In the fifth and final game, Bisu seemed to get a read on Jaedong’s aggressive strategy, and managed to hold him off to take the series 3–2.
In addition to all the epic esports action, Blizzard made several major announcements for its games at the show, including:
World of Warcraft
- Battle for Azeroth™—In the seventh expansion to World of Warcraft, the war between the Horde and the Alliance reignites as players embark on a journey to recruit new allies, race to claim the world’s mightiest resources, and fight on several fronts to determine which faction will lead Azeroth into its uncertain future.
- WoW® Classic—In addition to a new expansion, Blizzard also announced early plans to develop a gameplay experience that recaptures players’ first journeys into the original World of Warcraft.
Hearthstone
- Kobolds & Catacombs™—A new Hearthstone expansion, coming in December, will bring players down into the dungeons beneath Azeroth—and equip them with 135 new cards.
- Dungeon Runs—Kobolds & Catacombs brings with it a brand-new, highly replayable single-player game mode for Hearthstone featuring challenging, high-stakes subterranean journeys inspired by the classic fantasy dungeon crawl. Dungeon Runs are free for all players; no pre-built decks are required for entry.
- New Legendary Weapons—For the first time in Hearthstone, Legendary weapons are coming – and every class will get one!
- Free Legendary Cards—To celebrate the new expansion, all players will receive a free legendary minion, Marin the Fox, on November 6, as well as a free random legendary weapon for logging in when Kobolds & Catacombs launches in December.
- Eager treasure seekers can pre-purchase the new expansion card packs in a special 50-pack bundle for $49.99 and receive the jewel-encrusted “For the Hoard!” card back for free!
StarCraft II
- StarCraft II going free-to-play—Starting November 14, players will get free access to the acclaimed Wings of Liberty® campaign, ranked ladder play, and all Co-Op Commanders up to level five.
- Mira Han and Matt Horner—the newest Co-op Commander for StarCraft II’s popular Co-Op mode is actually two commanders in one: command a devastating mixture of high-powered Dominion air units as Matt Horner and fast-moving ground units as Mira Han.
- War Chest Season 2—Following the success of this year’s War Chest, StarCraft II will once again offer a fresh batch of seasonal content for players in support of StarCraft II esports.
Heroes of the Storm
- Hanzo and Alexstrasza—Two new heroes, both dragons in their own right, will bring new and dramatically different styles of play to the Nexus in Blizzard’s fast-paced MOBA, Heroes of the Storm, later this year.
- 2018 Gameplay Update—Several in-game changes are coming to Heroes of the Storm in the near future, including a wider field-of-view camera, new Mercenary mechanics, and other core gameplay updates.
- Voice Chat—Players in a party will automatically use Blizzard Voice Chat (unless they opt-out) and teams will have the choice to opt-in.
- Performance-Based Matchmaking—Lets the player’s personal performance in matches directly influence their matchmaking rating whether they win or lose.
- Moira—A new support hero, the life-draining geneticist named Moira, will soon be joining the roster of Overwatch, Blizzard’s acclaimed team-based shooter.
- Blizzard World—An amusement park celebrating the worlds of Diablo®, StarCraft, and Warcraft® serves as the location for Overwatch’s newest map.
- “Honor and Glory”—The latest in the acclaimed series of animated shorts released for Overwatch takes viewers into Reinhardt’s past as he wrestles with a decision of whether to answer Winston’s call to join the newly reforming Overwatch.
- Overwatch League—The inaugural season’s 12 city-based teams will sport in-game home and away uniforms and face off in the league’s Atlantic and Pacific divisions. League matches will be played over four days each week of the regular season, which starts January 10, 2018. Watch on Overwatchleague.com and on the forthcoming Overwatch League companion app.
For more information on the celebration of games, players, and esports excellence at BlizzCon 2017, or to watch VODs of the action with the BlizzCon 2017 Virtual Ticket, visit www.blizzcon.com.
About Blizzard Entertainment, Inc.
Best known for blockbuster hits including World of Warcraft, Hearthstone, Overwatch, the Warcraft, StarCraft, and Diablo franchises, and the multi-franchise Heroes of the Storm, Blizzard Entertainment, Inc. (www.blizzard.com), a division of Activision Blizzard (NASDAQ: ATVI), is a premier developer and publisher of entertainment software renowned for creating some of the industry’s most critically acclaimed games. Blizzard Entertainment’s track record includes twenty-one #1 games* and multiple Game of the Year awards. The company’s online-gaming service, Blizzard Battle.net®, is one of the largest in the world, with millions of active players.
*Sales and/or downloads. Based on internal company records and reports from key distribution partners.
Cautionary Note Regarding Forward-looking Statements: Information in this press release that involves Blizzard Entertainment's expectations, plans, intentions or strategies regarding content for the company’s games and esports programs are forward-looking statements that are not facts and involve a number of risks and uncertainties. Factors that could cause Blizzard Entertainment's actual future results to differ materially from those expressed in the forward-looking statements set forth in this release include unanticipated product delays and other factors identified in the risk factors sections of Activision Blizzard’s most recent annual report on Form 10-K and any subsequent quarterly reports on Form 10-Q. The forward-looking statements in this release are based upon information available to Blizzard Entertainment and Activision Blizzard as of the date of this release, and neither Blizzard Entertainment nor Activision Blizzard assumes any obligation to update any such forward-looking statements. Forward-looking statements believed to be true when made may ultimately prove to be incorrect. These statements are not guarantees of the future performance of Blizzard Entertainment or Activision Blizzard and are subject to risks, uncertainties and other factors, some of which are beyond its control and may cause actual results to differ materially from current expectations.
