BlizzCon will return in future years, but in the meantime, it promises more details “over the next few months” for World of Warcraft: The War Within and Diablo 4’s Vessel of Hatred expansions. It will also unite communities in “new and special ways,” including plans for shows like Gamescom.

Esports fans have the Overwatch Champions Series in Dreamhack Dallas and Stockholm. Meanwhile, to celebrate Warcraft’s 30th anniversary, there will be “multiple” in-person celebratory events worldwide, along with in-game celebrations across the franchise.

“While these events are distinct from BlizzCon, we’re harnessing all of our creativity and imagination to ensure they carry the same spirit of celebration and togetherness.”

Though Blizzard has several things to look forward to this year, the company has gone through a rough transitional period since its acquisition by Microsoft. Layoffs, the cancellation of its survival game (codenamed Odyssey), the departures of president Mike Ybarra and chief design officer/co-founder Allen Adham – a lot has happened. There is always next year, so stay tuned for further updates.

As per a report by Bloomberg’s Jason Schreier, Activision Blizzard has cancelled a Warcraft MMORPG that was in development for mobile devices in collaboration with NetEase Entertainment, who also co-developed Diablo Immortal. As a result, NetEase has reportedly disbanded the game’s development team, which comprised of over 100 developers, only a few of whom are being offered transfers elsewhere within the company.

As per the report, the game, which was codenamed Neptune, was going to be a full-fledged MMORPG set in the same universe as World of Warcraft. It would serve as its spinoff though, taking place in a different time period.

Allegedly, Blizzard Entertainment and NetEase Entertainment disagreed on the terms of their working arrangement, which ultimately led to the title’s cancellation. In his report, Schreier suggests that this could have an impact on the working relationship between the two companies going forward.

This isn’t the only mobile Warcraft game that Activision Blizzard has cancelled of late. The Pokemon GO-like Warcraft game that had been in development for a while was also reportedly cancelled earlier this year.

Meanwhile, both World of Warcraft: Dragonflight and World of Warcraft: Wrath of the Lich King Classic are due out later this year.

However, it seems the other was cancelled. Windows Central’s Jez Corden said that the other, a Pokemon Go-like title, was “actually cancelled a while ago.” “The one being announced next week is not Pokemon Go-like at all, but sounds like it’ll be pretty great from what I’ve heard.”

Schreier further weighed in, stating that, “Can confirm this – the Warcraft Pokemon Go game, one of the two mentioned in my first tweet, was canceled earlier this year. The other one will be revealed next week.” Overall, there’s been “mostly positive buzz” so the reveal should be worth watching.

The mobile title is slated to release later this year. In terms of other Blizzard projects, Overwatch 2 is currently having a closed beta test on PC for its PvP. Diablo Immortal is slated to release on June 2nd for iOS and Android along with an open beta for PC (check out the requirements here). There’s also World of Warcraft: Wrath of the Lich King Classic releasing later this year.

After a very long dry spell, Blizzard is finally preparing to release a bunch of new games. This is one of two mobile Warcraft games that have been in development in Blizzard's incubation department for several years. I've heard mostly positive buzz about both. https://t.co/Yrckhcv8PD

— Jason Schreier (@jasonschreier) April 28, 2022

For those DM'ing me about the Warcraft mobile games, I believe the Pokemon Go-like Warcraft game was actually cancelled a while ago.

The one being announced next week is not Pokemon Go-like at all, but sounds like it'll be pretty great from what I've heard.

— Jez (@JezCorden) April 29, 2022

Can confirm this – the Warcraft Pokemon Go game, one of the two mentioned in my first tweet, was canceled earlier this year. The other one will be revealed next week https://t.co/kJbfVl74ky

— Jason Schreier (@jasonschreier) April 29, 2022

Over a year ago, Blizzard confirmed that multiple mobile Warcraft games were in development, and recently, it was confirmed that more details on one of them would be arriving soon. Now, we know when that’ll happen.

Taking to Twitter via the series’ official account, Blizzard has confirmed that a new mobile game set in the Warcraft universe will be revealed next week, on May 3, at 10 AM PT. The specifics of the project? Well, that remains to be seen. What kind of a game it will be is anyone’s best guess right now, but many will be hoping for a strategy title.

Of course, Blizzard as other things in the pipeline where the mobile space is concerned as well. Diablo Immortal is releasing on June 2 for iOS and Android. On the same day, however, it will also release on open beta for PC. Check out a meaty chunk of the PC version’s gameplay footage through here.

In other Warcraft news, the next MMORPG expansion, World of Warcraft: Dragonflight, was recently unveiled, while Blizzard has also announced World of Warcraft: Wrath of the Lich King Classic.

https://twitter.com/Warcraft/status/1519724375372562432

In its recent quarterly fiscal report, Activision Blizzard confirmed that the debut Warcraft mobile game will be unveiled “in the coming weeks”.

“Blizzard is also planning to unveil more details about its first Warcraft mobile experience in the coming weeks,” the company wrote.

Earlier this year, the publisher said that the first Warcraft game would launch sometime this year. Presumably, a release date will be announced with the game’s imminent announcement.

Recently, Blizzard Entertainment also unveiled World of Warcraft’s next expansion, Dragonflight, while also announcing World of Warcraft: Wrath of the Lich King Classic.

On the mobile front, Diablo Immortal has been given a June launch date for iOS and Android, with a PC open beta following later in the year. Diablo 4, meanwhile, seems to be making good progress behind-the-scenes- read more on that through here.

Where Warcraft is concerned, while the long-running MMORPG World of Warcraft has been the primary focus for the series for a long time, it seems it will soon see another release as well- though not a new mainline PC strategy game, as many would have wanted.

In its recent quarterly fiscal report, Activision confirmed that Blizzard Entertainment will be delivering new Warcraft content this year (in line with Blizzard’s own recent comments), which will also include a mobile Warcraft game.

“Blizzard is planning substantial new content for the Warcraft franchise in 2022, including new experiences in World of Warcraft and Hearthstone, and getting all-new mobile Warcraft content into players’ hands for the first time,” the company wrote.

About a year ago, Activision confirmed that “multiple” free-to-play mobile Warcraft games were “in advanced development”, so it should be interesting to see which one of those projects will be ready to launch in the coming months.

On the mobile front, Blizzard is also going to launch Diablo Immortal sometime this year.

Speaking in response to one such tweet, Blizzard Entertainment boss Mike Ybarra has asked players to stay tuned for more news on Overwatch and Warcraft in the coming weeks, which will be followed by Diablo. He also clarified that Blizzard is a large studio with multiple teams who are supporting live projects.

Overwatch is set to receive more Legendary Skins in 2022 than any prior year. World of Warcraft fans are yet to receive any news about 2022’s updates.

Of course, it also needs to be mentioned that Overwatch 2 and Diablo 4 have long been in development with no word on release dates, except for the fact that both will not release until at least 2023.

Microsoft has also announced the acquisition of Activision Blizzard for nearly $69 billion- click through here to read more about that.

Blizzard is a big studio and we have talented and growing teams supporting live games as well. Over the coming weeks, you'll be hearing more on that from Warcraft and Overwatch. Diablo will follow. Stay tuned!

— Mike Ybarra (@Qwik) January 25, 2022

Over the course of more than a decade, World of Warcraft has become an institution in and of itself, which means that even though there have been no new mainline Warcraft releases in a long time (especially that new RTS series fans keep dreaming about), the IP itself is stronger than ever. And Activision has plans to continue expanding it further still.

It’s no secret that the mobile market has become integral to Activision’s business strategy, and they have every intention of leveraging the Warcraft IP to see greater growth in that area as well. Speaking during Activision-Blizzard’s recent quarterly investors call, CEO Bobby Kotick said that on top of continuing to deliver more content for the World of Warcraft playerbase, Bizzard is also working on “multiple” free-to-play mobile games in the series.

“In our Warcraft franchise, we intend to deliver more frequent premium content to sustain and expand the World of Warcraft community,” Kotick said. “And we have made multiple mobile free-to-play Warcraft experiences, and they’re now in advanced development based on our franchises beloved IP. This will create opportunities for both existing players and new fans to experience the Warcraft universe in entirely new ways.”

Activision have been seeing massive success with Call of Duty: Mobile, and Diablo Immortal has received strong early praise as well, so it’s no surprise that they’re continuing to eye more opportunities in the mobile space. What form that takes with Warcraft (unless you count Heroes of the Storm) remains to be seen.

Noctis – Final Fantasy 15

After being pulled into the Crystal and being absent from Eos for roughly a decade (it’s a long story), Noctis returns to a darker world as, well, a darker, more kingly figure. Not only did Noctis sport a beard in the time-skip but his entire demeanour evolved significantly from the annoying aloof prince. Thankfully, this resulted in him saving the world by defeating Ardyn and sacrificing himself to purge the Starscourge.

MARIO

The most obvious choice there is. Mainline Mario games are, of course, platformers, but there’s just so much Nintendo has done with this series. From kart racing with Mario Kart to RPGs with Paper Mario and Mario and Luigi, to puzzle games with Dr. Mario, to part games with Mario Party, to sports titles with Mario Tennis, and so, so much more, Mario has tried its hand at an impossible number of things, and proved to be successful in most of its attempts.