Blizzard Entertainment’s annual community
celebration showcases new content for the company’s blockbuster
games
Dominating runs by world-class competitors in
Overwatch®, StarCraft® II, Hearthstone ®, Heroes of the Storm®, and
World of Warcraft® esports thrilled live attendees and viewers
around the globe
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.
This press release features multimedia. View
the full release here:
http://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20171104005085/en/
BlizzCon 2017 is Blizzard Entertainment's
epic annual community celebration. (Photo: Business Wire)
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.
Overwatch
- 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.
View source
version on businesswire.com: http://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20171104005085/en/
Blizzard Entertainment, Inc.Rob Hilburger, 949-242-8404VP,
Global Communicationsrhilburger@blizzard.comorAndrew Reynolds,
949-955-1380 x14301PR Directorareynolds@blizzard.comorDavid Gordon,
949-955-1380 x13506PR Managerdgordon@blizzard.com
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