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Diablo, Warcraft and the past, present and future of Blizzard
At the all-digital BlizzConline event the world-renowned publisher-developer celebrated 30 years of its history and presented a future that’s chock full of Diablo and Warcraft -- old and new!
BlizzCon is the annual event where the veteran studio behind Warcraft, StarCraft and Diablo showcases what it has in-store, while also celebrating all things Blizzard. From esports to cosplay, the community-focused event that has been running for well over a decade had its 2020 in-person showing cancelled due to, well, 2020.
With the all-digital and first ever BlizzConline reshuffled to this year, the event coincided nicely with the 30th anniversary of the studio. And on that front, the milestone helped keep the focus on the past, present and future of all things Blizz.
And we mean that quite literally, with a look back at the studio’s early days and how it’s bringing back some of the most memorable moments from the Diablo and Warcraft franchises this year. Whilst of course offering updates on new things on the horizon too. And in the spirit of celebrating all things Blizz our very own Red Bull Ambassador to gaming, Stephanie “Hex” Bendixsen, let us know what Blizzard means to her. After all, Blizzard games have touched us in one meaningful way or another over the years...
“My earliest memory of Blizzard is probably Warcraft 3, though I only played it a handful of times at friends’ places,” Hex recalls. “Like many people though, World of Warcraft was my true gateway into the world of Blizzard. I jumped in around the time of the Burning Crusade expansion release, where I rolled a Blood Elf Rogue. I remember I was working nights in a call centre while at uni, and my boss was a huge WoW player and we spent a lot of our time between calls talking about WoW.
“In fact I was such a tragic, I used to buy those physical monthly subscription cards and I had them all proudly blue-tac’d to my bedroom wall.”
The OG pillagers and puzzle-solvers
© Blizzard
Those First Pixels
Before Blizzard Entertainment became the home of the Horde, Alliance, and then sent players into space to deal with Zerg-rushes, it developed games for 16-bit systems like the Super Nintendo. Yep, and with titles like The Lost Vikings and Rock N Roll Racing, the studio that many associate with PCs and going online to battle it out with friends made games for the platform that Mario, Luigi and Link built.
The three titles in question are The Lost Vikings, Rock N Roll Racing, and Blackthorne – where all three fall into the ‘long lost gem’ category...
With the release of the Blizzard Arcade Collection for PC and consoles (it’s available now on all platforms) it’s a collection that brings together three classic 16-bit era Blizzard games in "Definitive Edition" form. The three titles in question are The Lost Vikings, Rock N Roll Racing, and Blackthorne – where all three fall into the ‘long lost gem’ category. Games that showcase that even from the beginning Blizzard was all about putting its own spin on established genres. From the Lemmings-inspired puzzles of Lost Vikings to futuristic isometric racing and even the old school side-scrolly-ness of the Prince of Persia-like Blackthorne.
Holy Hell Diablo’s Back
Blizzard is known for putting entire genres on the map, namely its PC output from the 1990s onward. From the real-time strategy of Warcraft and StarCraft through to the MMORPG juggernaut that is World of Warcraft. But there’s another genre the studio helped define, and that is the action-RPG. A style of game that is probably more popular today than it has ever been. Action-RPG mechanics can be found just about everywhere, from Destiny to Borderlands to how the unlock systems in games like Fortnite work. The word “loot” can seriously be traced back to Diablo.
Back in 2000 Blizzard released Diablo II, an isometric action-RPG that quickly became one of the most beloved and played PC games of the era -- and the announcement of Diablo II: Resurrected is bringing it back in style. On track for a PC and console release later this year (including Nintendo Switch), as far as remasters go this is shaping up to be one of the most impressive to date.
Bringing the game into 2021 has seen the team introduce some quality-of-life features too, from shared stash space to auto-pickup for gold...
The team at Blizzard has created a high-end 3D layer that sits on top of the 2D core that is classic 21-year-old Diablo. So, with the original game intact this is very much a remaster, but with new visuals that are basically at remake quality.
“Diablo II is a very important game to Blizzard, it's a classic that helped define a genre,” Diablo II: Resurrected Executive Producer Rod Fergusson tells Red Bull Games. “It’s a great time to bring this game back for a new generation, all that core gameplay; the story, tone, the same voice performances – that 2D sprite-based game is right there under the covers.”
Fans will be pleased to learn that they can switch between the new widescreen look and the original presentation at the press of a button. Bringing the game into 2021 has seen the team introduce some quality-of-life features too, from shared stash space to auto-pickup for gold. Resurrected is a labour of love for the team, with Blizzard even recreating all 27-minutes of cinematics, shot-for-shot, using modern CGI.
Who doesn't love and remember a good Camp Fire?
© Blizzard
The time definitely feels right to revisit Diablo II or check it out for the very first time, a fact that is bolstered by the impressive and still-in-development Diablo IV. Although its release window doesn’t fall into the 2021 calendar year, Blizzard took the opportunity to introduce the fourth playable class for the game at BlizzConline – the Rogue.
Drawing on classic pen and paper RPG origins and Diablo IV’s gothic and dark art-style, the open-world sequel will push the series forward by offering a vast world to adventure in and the ability to customise their character’s look and feel. In the case of the Rogue that means everything from what tattoo to get, charm to dangle, through to whether you’d like to melt a monster in a pool of poison or freeze them and then shatter them into pieces with a trusty blade-stab.
Bringing the series into the open-world age also makes Diablo IV the most ambitious and grandiose game in the franchise to date – with players able to explore just about the entirety of Sanctuary without ever hitting a load-screen. And this is something that plays into the narrative, which for the first time won’t be strictly linear.
“In Diablo IV you can get on your mount and just start riding,” John Mueller, Art Director on Diablo IV explains. “Venturing into dangerous territory, maybe there isn't a story reason to be there, maybe there's a world boss, a world event, or a camp to liberate. There are reasons to be in this world beyond story. The overall story guides progression, but it isn't the sole reason for progressing and determining where you can go. Again, you can just ride. Start in the snowy peaks and end up in a desert or the ocean shores. That discovery is driven by players and the desire for exploration as opposed being in Act III or Act IV.”
There's something to be said about nostalgic gaming
© Blizzard
Previously on World of Warcraft, The Burning Crusade
The look at the past, present and future of all things Blizzard continues into World of Warcraft. With the recent release of World of Warcraft Classic (which presented a version of the game as it existed around its initial launch back in 2004) and the latest afterlife-hopping expansion in World of Warcraft: Shadowlands, both are set to get major updates this year.
As with many things WoW, The Burning Crusade is something players hold dear...
World of Warcraft Classic is going back in time, again, this time to the release of the game’s very first expansion The Burning Crusade. An epic moment that saw the mysterious Dark Portal open within the incredibly popular title, leading to many new additions to the series ranging from new playable classes through to Arena PvP. As with many things WoW, The Burning Crusade is something players hold dear – and are keen to experience again.
“WoW Classic was truly a love letter to the fans,” Patrick Dawson, Production Director on World of Warcraft Classic tells us. “It was really just meant to be as authentic an experience as it could be, almost a museum piece so that people could go back and play it. What we discovered very quickly was people love it, and almost immediately began to ask what's next?”
“It's an interesting challenge to take modern technology and make it look like it was made in 2007,” Holly Longdale, Lead Producer on World of Warcraft Classic adds. “It doesn't feel that way, but it'll look that way. We approach everything from UI to how classes and characters behave from the position of staying true to the original Burning Crusade.”
Two heads are always better than one
© Blizzard
Like Classic, the Burning Crusade expansion runs on a more modern version of Blizzard’s technology, something that will immediately benefit things like the number of players it can handle in a single location through to stability and quality of life updates. As a museum piece Blizzard will offer players the choice to take their characters into the Burning Crusade era of WoW or simply remain in the loving embrace of launch edition WoW.
As for the continuing saga that is World of Warcraft and its decade’s plus story that saw players venture into the afterlife with Shadowlands a massive content drops on that front coming – one that pit players face-to-face against iconic hero turned villain Sylvannas in an epic new Raid. As with recent expansions to WoW, Shadowlands will see its tale continue through post-launch updates that highlight just how much the game continues to evolve and change over time.
If you’re looking for a reason – outside of nostalgia – for something like Classic to exist alongside Shadowlands, well, the museum analogy is perfect. World of Warcraft continues to thrive based on how its story spans decades and how the look and feel of any given year is different to how it was before.
A Card for All Occasions
"I remember those early days in Hearthstone’s release where I felt such a glorious, addictive pull," reminisces Hex when we also ask about Hearthstone's impact on her, and its surprising (not surprising) longevity. "There have been many CCG’s that have followed, but none have quite risen to Hearthstone’s heights.
"It just hits all the right points, I think. I also find it super-exciting to watch as an esport. Watching HS tournaments feels nerdy in the way a chess tournament is nerdy, but that’s also why it’s so great. Feeling the tension in the room, trying to anticipate the long game."
In 2014 Blizzard released a Warcraft spin-off in the form of Hearthstone, a competitive card-game that took the studio’s “easy to learn, difficult to master” mantra and applied it to the strategy and stat-driven realm of card battles. It also presented a whimsical fireside version of Warcraft that helped establish a tone and style that was all its own.
A take on roguelike mechanics and randomised encounters, the character driven mode is said to be the game’s most ambitious addition...
With multiple expansion packs and balance changes and even new modes arriving every year, this year’s Year of the Gryphon might just be the biggest yet. Forged in the Barrens, a Horde-focused expansion kicks off a new year long narrative – one tied to the sense of journey found in World of Warcraft. Focusing on new characters and stories players will level and grow throughout the single-player adventures.
“This is a yearlong narrative, but done a different way,” Chadd Nervig, Senior Game Designer on Hearthstone explains. “We're following the journey of these 10 characters, these mercenaries, and we'll see them in the new Mercenaries game mode and in the collectible sets. We want to tell that story of them starting out as adventures in the world of Azeroth, exploring, leveling up, getting gear, and entering Dungeons for the first time.”
Building on the success of the auto-chess like Battlegrounds, Hearthstone is getting another brand-new game mode in the coming months called Mercenaries. A take on roguelike mechanics and randomised encounters, the character driven mode is said to be the game’s most ambitious addition to date and the biggest departure from regular play seen to boot.
There's no sleeping in Hearthstone!
© Blizzard
It doesn’t stop there, as the recent success of WoW Classic has inspired the team to add a new and fully supported wing within the game -- Classic. Which as per the presents all the cards and heroes and mechanics surrounding the game’s initial launch. On top of that the new rotating Core Set is introducing a major shake-up by replacing the Standard and Basic sets -- offering new and veteran players an easier path to unlock and build decks. One has to wonder how the team manages to juggle all of that on top of regular balance changes and tweaks to the competitive side.
“It’s certainly a challenge, especially while we work from home,” Dean Ayala, Lead Game Designer on the Card Design team says. “Fortunately, we've proven that we can do it. We have a lot of people on the team that have been here for a really long time, so we have small groups that are separate from everybody else, and there’s this trust to build something really great. With Hearthstone, we have a lot of design philosophies on the team that are clearly communicated to ensure we're still going to be delivering a cohesive experience that feels like it's all part of the same game.”
With a shake-up to the core set, new expansions, a new mode, a yearlong adventure, Hearthstone Classic, and more, it’s no wonder Blizzard’s 30th anniversary is feeling like a celebration of the past, present and future.
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