Blizzard announced a new open-world StarCraft shooter for 2030, Diablo V for Spring 2029 and World of Warcraft: Forever at its BlizzCon 2026 opening ceremony.
Blizzard Entertainment used its BlizzCon 2026 opening ceremony to announce three major projects spanning its biggest franchises: a new StarCraft open-world shooter, Diablo V, and World of Warcraft: Forever. The scale of the reveals made the event the day's dominant technology and gaming story.
A new StarCraft, but not the one fans expected
The most consequential announcement was a game simply titled STARCRAFT, described by Blizzard as "an original open-world shooter" set to launch in Spring 2030. It marks the first new standalone entry in the sci-fi series in roughly a decade, and its genre shift is a sharp departure from the real-time strategy format that defined the franchise.
Dan Hay, who previously served as a lead producer on Ubisoft's Far Cry series before joining Blizzard, introduced the project onstage. "Something new — an open-world shooter where every step is earned. Not from above, but down on the ground, in the mud, in the fire," he said.
Blizzard accompanied the announcement with a cinematic teaser rather than gameplay footage, following a Terran recruit named Holt whose deployment ends violently on a Zerg-infested battlefield. The trailer's "returns 2030" screen carried only an Xbox logo, an apparent signal that Microsoft intends to keep the title exclusive to its console ecosystem.
The project represents Blizzard's third attempt at a StarCraft shooter. StarCraft Ghost, announced in 2002, was canceled in 2006; a second attempt codenamed Ares was scrapped in 2019. Bloomberg reported in 2024 that Hay was leading the third effort.
Diablo V set for Spring 2029
Blizzard confirmed Diablo V will arrive in Spring 2029, with a premise that inverts the series' usual setup: "Sanctuary has fallen and Diablo has won," the company said, framing the game around the question of "what must you become when the world has already fallen."
In the nearer term, Diablo IV's Season of Hell's Legacy launches September 15 to mark the franchise's 30th anniversary, bringing back the Prime Evils, including Diablo himself, along with Deckard Cain and era-spanning rewards. The game also comes to Nintendo Switch 2 on the same date. Blizzard additionally said an animated Diablo series is in development at Netflix, and that a javelin-wielding Amazon class pack will reach Diablo IV in the first half of 2027.
World of Warcraft: Forever revives vanilla Azeroth
Closing the ceremony, Blizzard announced World of Warcraft: Forever, a third persistent WoW experience alongside Modern and Classic. Executive producer Holly Longdale described it onstage as "Classic Plus." The project revamps the original 2004 version of Azeroth with new zones, raids and roughly 1,000 new quests, and launches November 4, 2026, with a beta starting this week.
Blizzard also offered a first look at The Last Titan, the final installment of The Worldsoul Saga, with more details promised early next year.
Overwatch, Hearthstone and Warcraft III
Overwatch's tenth anniversary brought a new life-draining vampire-inspired support hero named Doctrine, major reworks for Sombra and Roadhog, and a new map, Watchpoint: Grimsvötn. Season 5 closes the year-long "Reign of Talon" narrative arc.
Hearthstone's Reign of the Black Empire expansion arrives October 20, and the Monk becomes the game's first new playable class in six years in March 2027. Meanwhile, Warcraft III Reforged received its first new story campaign in more than 23 years: Forsaken Kingdom, released immediately alongside a 3.0 update.
Why it matters
The announcements signal a long-horizon strategy from Blizzard and its parent Microsoft, which is betting on franchise revivals across console, PC and streaming. The 2030 window for StarCraft and 2029 for Diablo V also underscore a practice the company has long been known for: revealing titles years before they are ready, under the mantra "it'll be ready when it's ready."