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In addition to Blizzard’s announcement at Blizzcon 2018 around the addition of new heroes to their Heroes of the Storm and Overwatch titles, they also announced their plans to recreate some of their classic gaming titles to give their fans the ultimate nostalgia trip.
Warcraft 3: Reforged Edition
One of the iconic classic titles that has made Blizzard the company it is today is going to get a facelift. Warcraft 3, an RTS title originally released in 2002 and having sold millions of copies since its launch, will see a new ‘Reforged edition‘, scheduled for release in 2019.
Warcraft 3’s impact on both the gaming and esports industry as a whole is insurmountable, having been the inspiration for several of the biggest names in today’s gaming industry. Whilst the base game itself was massively successful, it was its map editor that allowed the community reinvent the game and evolve it beyond Blizzard’s intentions. The most pivotal example of this was the creation of the custom map: Defense of the Ancients.
The first version of Defense of the Ancients was released shortly after the core game’s release in 2002 by Kyle Sommer who goes by the alias “Eul“. The map was based on a previous StarCraft scenario known as “Aeon of Strife” and would go on to serve as the inspiration for nearly all modern-day MOBA titles; including both League of Legends and Dota 2.
Warcraft still remains one of the most successful franchises in gaming history, with nearly every member of the gaming community having had their “World of Warcraft” phase.
The Warcraft 3 remastered edition will hopefully capture a whole new market for the gametype, an audience that never experienced the franchise the first time around, and as they have fallen out of popularity, may have not yet experienced an RTS (Real-Time Strategy) title.
In addition to encompassing greatly improved and scaled up visuals and animations, Blizzard has also kept the Map editor alive, allowing for more stunning community contributions to the game. We’re excited to see what’s created!
You can check out more information for Warcraft 3: Reforged on their new official website.
Diablo Immortals: Taking the mobile route
It was no secret that Blizzard was working on some Diablo projects and there have been indications that Blizzard was working on multiple Diablo projects for a while now. One of these projects has now seen the light of day with the Diablo Immortals announcement. The hit PC franchise will now come to various platforms, especially on the iOS and Android mobile platforms.
With ever improving mobile technologies, Blizzard has been able to retain the feel and visuals of Diablo whilst porting from PC to mobile for this new Immortals version. They have also committed to providing regular game updates, as well as new characters, after launch to provide an evolving player experience.
Taking the mobile route for one of their most successful gaming title makes a lot of sense for Blizzard, but it was greeted with great distain by the Diablo community. At the reveal, fans were heard to audibly “boo” the announcement, as well as ask if it was a joke; to which the response was telling a room full of PC players that “they have phones“. Obviously this was met with even greater irritability.
We’re interested to see how the community will come to welcome the game over the coming months, but this could be a rare big-miss for Blizzard.