BlizzCon 2026 is just days away. The fake leaks are flying everywhere across Blizzard’s different forms, their subreddits, and the internet at large. Expectations feel like they’re at an all-time high for whatever will be announced by Blizzard. I am no exception. So, as a way to get excited for BlizzCon, why not speculate wildly and make five predictions that will absolutely and with 100 percent certainty come true. (Ignore the clown makeup)
We will get only a Northrend reveal for The Last Titan
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World of Warcraft‘s expansions have had a much more interconnected story since the Worldsoul Saga was announced at BlizzCon 2023. We know The Last Titan is the next expansion. We also know that we’re going back to Northrend after everything goes to hell after whatever transpires during the final moments of Midnight. We also know that Ulduar will play some role in the Titan pantheon returning to Azeroth.
But there is still quite some time, and a whole major patch, between us defeating Ula’tek and returning to the wintry north. With the bigger focus on “cohesive” storytelling, I doubt we’ll get information on the setup of The Last Titan. Instead, I see it as more probable that the focus for Retail reveal(s) will be that last major patch for Midnight, and showing off how Northrend has evolved since its Wrath of the Lich King state.
Maybe with some new feature announcements as well that aren’t as back-of-the-box-reveal-y. That would most likely be saved for the bigger reveal after we have finished the last raid of the current expansion. Whatever trailer exposition that sets up a big The Last Titan reveal would heavily spoil how our attempts to thwart Xalatath end. Particularly in exactly how our battle will end, with everything spiraling out of control. That alone would be a disservice to their story and design teams and lessen any blows they’ve worked hard at up to this point.
But I also don’t see any major features to come to WoW Retail until after the Worldsoul Saga concludes, either. So, sadly, I wouldn’t expect Chris Metzen to come on stage and announce Shaman Tanks are a thing now, or that Warriors have a new support spec that involves them constantly shouting at their allies. Maybe an expansion of class/race combinations.
Blizzard’s loved doing that when it’s story-relevant. But, c’mon, with how prevalent the Light is in this expansion, it would be cool to see more races that can be Warriors or Priests also get Paladins. Or, with the major presence of nature, more races can become Druids.
Classic+ (or WoW Camelot) isn’t just Classic with more content
Classic+ has been heavily rumored and even datamined up to this point. Even with those datamines really just being that something named Project Camelot/Classic+ has been updated on the WoW branch on Battle.Net, we know very little about this. All that’s really been said is that whatever Classic+ is, it’s the Classic team’s next big project.
Up to this point, they’ve worked on expansion relaunches up through Mists of Pandaria Classic as well as Classic Season of Discovery and Classic Anniversary servers. I doubt we’ll get a Warlords of Draenor Classic at this point due to waning player counts and the highly unpopular nature of WoD.
That’s why whatever the Classic team has been cooking is taking all of the creativity that we saw flourish in Season of Discovery and making a whole new entity out of it. But I don’t think it’ll be SoD but with more stuff. I want it to be the Old School RuneScape version of WoW. Let us start over from the beginning but with modern infrastructure and graphics. Let the Classic team take a crack at redefining Azeroth without the burdens of all the older expansions to build off of. Maybe they’ll include even more cut content from Vanilla WoW, like the Emerald Dream, Dragon Isles, Mount Hyjal, and Outland.
What would be especially cool is the Classic team taking their own liberties with class design. Take what the Retail team has learned on designing specs and break out of the more defined role-like mold that classes had back in Vanilla. Let them create wild new combinations, like a Mage Tank or melee DPS, or even new classes that players have wanted for ages but don’t make sense at this time for Retail (BARDS!!). Whatever comes next, the Classic team does great work, and it’s going to be exciting to see what they come up with that is being hyped as the new second pillar of WoW.
StarCraft (and RTSs) is alive and well
Now, at this point, you may have seen the teaser of whatever is happening with StarCraft on their remastered website. Some ARG is happening to discover what’s going on. But I think StarCraft will have a massive presence this year. Not just with the rumored shooter game. But hopefully with the return of the RTS. Rumors are already flying that Nexon is trying to get exclusive developer rights for the IP. But maybe Blizzard is already working on it.
StarCraft is such a beloved IP that has fallen by the wayside. For a while, it was treated like a PS2-era Sony Mascot is now; relegated to being a cameo in other Blizzard IP. But with Raynor returning to the BlizzCon promotional art alongside Diablo, World of Warcraft, and Overwatch, that feels like a big tease by Blizzard that fans of their space RTS series won’t be hung out to dry for much longer.
In fact, I hope we see that Blizzard is back to making RTS games. Like maybe with a new Warcraft 3 or an entirely new Warcraft RTS that explores some new part of the universe? Imagine if our first glimpse of Avaloren and the other side of Azeroth isn’t in an expansion, but an RTS game. And it’s about how the Arathi made it to and have survived on the inaccessible part of Azeroth for so long without discovery. Heck, not even the Titan Keepers could make it over there. How did some lowly humans pull it off?
Diablo 4 isn’t just getting a new expansion; it’s expanding with previous games’ content
Diablo 4 continues to be a massive success for Blizzard. It’s already received 2 expansions, and I don’t doubt that a third is on the way. But what I hope to see isn’t just a new expansion, but a remake of the first Diablo. I also want that remake to be built into Diablo 4, but with the addition of the Bard class that was meant to be included in the first game’s DLC. In fact, it’d be cool to expand Diablo 4 each season with more and more content from past games. In other words, Diablo 4 will be the new live-service one-stop shop for the Diablo universe.
Diablo 5 is probably not coming for quite some time, if ever. But just taking a step back, I do see an announcement involving the original Diablo and Diablo 2 coming—something that goes beyond the remaster. More on the level of a complete remake than just a fresh coat of paint. If whatever that gets announced for Diablo 1 or 2 does involve Diablo 4 in some way, cool.
But on their own, a remake with the current graphical engine and including even more cut content from both games would be amazing, opening the universe up to even more fans. Again, going back to the BlizzCon 2026 promotional art, Lilith is still just as much a part of Blizzard’s roster as the other three major mascots of their other IP. So something big is coming to Diablo fans.
Blizzard IP are coming to Cinemas and Apple TV
Xbox has been trying to expand its IP to the silver screen for quite some time. And based on recent reporting, their efforts are increasing after the success of other video game adaptations. Blizzard IP is perfect for a good series or movie. Blizzard has tried once with the Warcraft movie. Was it a success? No, it pretty much bombed. But was it fun? Oh absolutely.
It was an awesome fantasy movie that showed the duality of the first Orc/Human conflict. Hopefully, with a new focus by Hollywood to give Video Game IPs the love and care they deserve when adapting them, Warcraft and other Blizzard IPs can get a second chance.
For instance, a Kerrigan movie would be a dream to see (and would pair well with Apple TV’s sci-fi lineup). Animated Warcraft or Diablo shows that delve deeper into their respective lore would also do wonders. Anything Arthas would sell gangbusters and could easily be the next big fantasy movie or show to hit the screen. I really hope we hear that something is in the works and that Blizzard can ride the current video game adaptation wave as well.
Whatever is announced, the hype leading up to BlizzCon feels more palpable than ever. And as a fan of all Blizzard IP, that’s all that can really be asked for at this point. There’s a sense that a fan of any IP will get something cool revealed soon. Except one IP: bring back Heroes of the Storm!
