As per Insider Gaming, February will also see Microsoft continuing its rollout of Activision Blizzard titles for the Game Pass catalog. Allegedly joining the service’s library next month are acclaimed platformer Crash Bandicoot 4: It’s About Time and Blizzard Entertainment’s MOBA Heroes of the Storm. The two will also be joined by Madden NFL 25, which will be available to Game Pass Ultimate subscribers via EA Play, it’s claimed.

Presumably, Microsoft will officially announce this in the final days of January. February will also see the Game Pass launch of Obsidian Entertainment’s fantasy action RPG Avowed for Xbox Series X/S and PC.

Heroes of the Storm will continue to get seasonal rolls and hero rotations, and while the in-game shop will remain online, Blizzard has no plans to add new content to the store. Any updates for Heroes of the Storm in the future will primarily focus on stability improvements, bug fixes, and balance updates.

Blizzard is also giving Heroes of the Storm players a rare Epic Arcane Lizard mount with the patch coming to the game next week.

Heroes of the Storm is a free-to-play objective-based MOBA that involves two teams of five duking it out on various maps as they try and complete objectives. The twist in Heroes of the Storm is that its entire roster is comprised of characters from Blizzard’s various games, including Warcraft, Overwatch, StarCraft, Diablo, and even Lost Vikings.

We’re nearing that time of the year again when Blizzard Entertainment holds BlizzCon, its annual convention devoted to its current IPs. That means the virtual tickets are also on sale, offering an All-Access look at different panels and interviews outside of the opening ceremony and esports tournaments. You also get some nifty cosmetics and in-game items.

The star of the cosmetic line-up is Overwatch which includes Legendary skins for Symmetra and Genji from Warcraft. The former gets Tyrande Whisperwind while the latter receive Illidan Genji because reasons. The virtual ticket costs $49.99 – here are some of the other items you can get for their respective games.

• World of Warcraft: Ride the tides of war with a pair of Murloc-ified faction leaders: Finduin (for Alliance heroes) and Gillvanas (for the Horde). Plus, bundle up for your next trip to the icy mountains with the whimsical Wendigo Woolies transmog outfit. Available in-game starting today!
• Hearthstone: Celebrate the excitement of BlizzCon the next time you sit down for a duel with the BlizzCon 2019 Card Back. Then prepare to claim a mysterious Golden Legendary card, to be revealed at BlizzCon. In-game after BlizzCon!
• Heroes of the Storm: Make your mark in the Nexus with a commemorative BlizzCon spray and portrait, and ride into battle on the Celestial Deepcrawler mount. It may not look dangerous, but those claws can give you a nasty pinch… or wipe out all life on your planet. Available in-game starting today!
• StarCraft II: Equip a trio of Brood War–era unit skins and portraits the next time you go into battle. Scout for a zerg ambush aboard the Classic Battlecruiser, hunt your prey with the sinewy Classic Ultralisk, and honor Tassadar’s sacrifice with the Classic Carrier. Available in-game starting today!

Diablo 3 will also receive some commemorative wings with more details on the same to be revealed later. BlizzCon 2019 is set to take place on November 1st to 2nd in Anaheim, California. Rumours have circulated in the past few months regarding reveals for Diablo 4 and Overwatch 2, the latter focusing more on PvE. Stay tuned in the meantime for more information.

Do you remember the news we had of turbulence inside Blizzard a few weeks ago, in the wake of the backlash against Diablo Immortal? Well, it looks like we are starting to see effects of that play out now, because today Blizzard announced that it will be moving developers off Heroes of the Storm, it’s troubled crossover MOBA game, on to other projects. 

Blizzard notes that this change will not effect immediate support for the game, and they will continue to put out “new heroes, themed events, and other content”. That said, they drop the ominous line that the aim is to prepare the game for long term sustainability, which sounds to me like they may be preparing to eventually transition the game to maintenance mode, the limbo where the game is still “live”, but no longer actively supported.

This news is also accompanied by the update that Blizzard will not be bringing back Heroes eSports—to be specific, the Heroes Global Championship and Heroes of the Dorm—in 2019. This means if you play the game competitively, well… Blizzard doesn’t seem to be interested right now. 

Heroes of the Storm never quite took off like World of Warcraft or Overwatch, but it was still successful enough, and is certainly the third most successful MOBA on the market after League of Legends and DOTA 2. Doubtless this news will end up crushing a lot of Blizzard fans, not least because of what it could bode for the company in the long term.

Blizzard Entertainment has announced the schedule for BlizzCon 2018, the company’s annual convention for all things World of Warcraft, Overwatch, StarCraft, Heroes of the Storm, and much more. As it turns, Diablo will be appearing as well. Not only will it kick off the convention at 12:30 PM PST on November 2nd with “Diablo: What’s Next”, you can also look forward to the “Diablo: World and Q&A” at 5:45 PM PST on November 3rd.

Of course, “What’s Next” sessions will also be held for Overwatch, Hearthstone, World of Warcraft, and Heroes of the Storm on November 2nd. StarCraft 2 fans shouldn’t worry – the “What’s Next” session for the RTS will be held on November 3rd at 12:30 PM PST.

The Overwatch World Cup quarterfinals will all be held on November 2nd, starting from 12:15 PM PST. The semifinals will be hosted on November 3rd from 11:30 AM PST onwards, with the finals coming at 3:45 PM PST. E-sports tournaments for Heartstone, World of Warcraft, and StarCraft 2 will also be held, so check out the full schedule here for more information. BlizzCon 2018 will run from November 2nd to November 3rd.

On top of revealing that multiple Diablo projects are in development and announcing Diablo 3: Eternal Collection for Nintendo Switch, Blizzard Entertainment has outlined its schedule for Gamescom 2018. You can expect to hear more about franchises like Overwatch, Heroes of the Storm, Diablo, and more on August 22nd starting from 10:30 AM CEST/1:30 AM PT.

The schedule below is as follows:

• 10:30 AM CEST/1:30 AM PT – Opening
• 11:15 AM CEST/2:15 AM PT – Overwatch
• 12:30 PM CEST/3:30 AM PT – World of Warcraft
• 1:15 PM CEST/4:15 AM PT – StarCraft
• 2:30 PM CEST/5:30 AM PT – Heroes of the Storm
• 3:45 PM CEST/6:45 AM PT – Diablo

The presentation will be broadcast on YouTube and Twitch, so keep an eye out at the above times for more details. A “Blizzard at Gamescom” show will be hosted every day until August 25th as well, so additional information (or recaps) could possibly be offered.

Along with a showcase for Diablo 3: Eternal Collection, we’ll probably see a new short for Overwatch (along with a possible new map) like last year. World of Warcraft just released its latest major expansion Battle for Azeroth, so look for more information on the upcoming raid in September. What could Blizzard have in store for its other franchises? Gamescom 2018 will take place from August 21st till August 25th, so it won’t be long till we find out.

With Gamescom almost here, Blizzard has revealed its plans for the festivities. This year, Blizzard promises to bring every major one of its franchises to the event- Diablo, StarCraft, Warcraft, Overwatch, Heroes of the Storm, and Hearthstone. Blizzard will host a one hour long ceremony, and then each of its games, except for Hearthstone, will get a 30 minute to an hour long panel.

The interesting thing here is that Blizzard hasn’t actually detailed what these panels will have, unlike previous years- which indicates they may have new announcements to make. We already know they are looking at sharing details on “multiple Diablo projects” by the end of the year (though one of them is presumably Diablo 3 for Nintendo Switch, which was announced earlier today). This might be true of at least StarCraft as well, which hasn’t seen a new entry in nearly a decade.

That apart, there will also be a Mystery Guest panel, plus Bungie on stage to share some details on Destiny 2 (Battle.net also hosts Destiny 2, after all).You can see full details of Blizzard’s Gamescom schedule, as well as the artwork they shared for the event, below.

• Opening Ceremony: 10:30 to 11:30 (1 hour)
• Overwatch: 11:30 to 12:00 (30 minutes)
• World of Warcraft: 12:00 to 12:45 (45 minutes)
• StarCraft: 13:15 to 14:00 (45 minutes)
• Heroes of the Storm: 14:30 to 15:30 (1 hour)
• Diablo: 15:45 to 16:45 (1 hour)
• “Guest Event”: 17:00 to 17:30 (30 minutes)

Sega Superstars Tennis

Of all the things that Sega characters could be doing, Tennis wasn’t exactly our first choice. Regardless, there’s some kind of charm to seeing Sonic interacting with Ulala from Space Channel 5 or Gilius Thunderhead from Golden Axe raining thunderbolts down in the Green Hill Zone. Don’t forget playing classic Sega games on the side like Virtua Cop and Space Harrier because Space Harrier is everywhere.

The latest patch for Heroes of the Storm is now available on the Public Test Realm. This patch brings the new hero Deckard Cain, so  you can try him out in the Public Test Realm until April 23. Apart from adding the new hero, the new patch also brings a number of bug fixes, UI improvements, and more.

Deckard Cain is a hero who is most effective when paired up with another hero. He doesn’t do much damage, but he makes up for this with some great support abilities. His hero trait is called Fortitude of the Faithful and grants him 10 bonus armor and increases his basic abilities’ recharge by 50% when he is near an ally.

This shows that he was designed to be played in cooperation with other heroes. Deckard’s two heroic abilities are Stay Awhile and Listen which puts everyone within range to sleep, and Lorenado which is a tornado that knocks back anyone who comes too close. The hero’s primary abilities like Healing Potion also make him a useful healer.

You can check out the full patch notes on the official website. Heroes of the Storm is now available on PC.

Dates have been announced for Blizzard Entertainment’s biggest event of the year BlizzCon. Heading to the Anaheim Convention Center once more, BlizzCon 2018 will take place on November 2nd to 3rd. You can pick up tickets on universe.com for $199 each (with taxes and fees included). Two sets of tickets will be available, the first on May 9 at 7 PM PT/10 PM ET and the second batch on May 12th at 10 AM PT/1 PM ET.

Co-founder and CEO Mike Morhaime stated that, “BlizzCon is our favorite time of the year at Blizzard. It’s our chance to meet and really get to know the people behind the Terran commanders, demon hunters, and Tracer mains we play with every day—to share our passion for games and esports with each other, and celebrate what being in the Blizzard community is all about.”

BlizzCon is usually the location for numerous reveals and announcements, particularly for Blizzard’s major franchises like World of Warcraft, Diablo, Heroes of the Storm, Overwatch and StarCraft 2. It will also see numerous tournament finals like the Heroes of the Storm Global Championship Finals, World of Warcraft Area World Championship Finals, Overwatch World Cup Final and so on taking place.

If you can’t see the show live, then Virtual Tickets can be purchased which bring livestream footage of the event. Exclusive in-game items will also be available. Those attending the event can also purchase tickets for a charity dinner on November 1st and have an opportunity to meet various Blizzard developers.

These tickets will be available on May 16th at 7 PM PT/10 PM ET for $750 each with proceeds going towards CHOC Children’s, which provides medical care for infants and children.