Blizzcon 2023 Schedule & What To Expect

• Author: Passion
• Date: October 28, 2023
• Updated: October 28, 2023
• Expansion: World of Warcraft

We are now only a few days away from the first in-person Blizzcon since 2019. With this, player expectations are at an all-time high. Leaks & rumors have been flowing from every possible source. While we do not know for sure what Blizzard will announce, tease, or reveal during Blizzcon, we can definitely make some guesses! Make sure to check back for further information as it is revealed.

Starting November 3rd at 11:00 AM PDT (18:00 GMT), the Blizzcon Opening Ceremony will be live. Players can catch this stream on Blizzard’s official Youtube or Twitch channel.

WoW: What’s Next

The opening ceremony is followed by “WoW: What’s Next”. While we do not know for sure, the /r/wow subreddit has recently been discussing the potential leak of 11.0, featuring the new continent “Avaloren”. While we won’t know for sure if this is true or not until Blizzcon, we do also have reason to doubt this. In September, Gamespot.com interviewed WoW’s game director, Ion Hazzikostas. In this interview Hazzikostas discussed the possibility of another world revamp, and with the games 20th Anniversary happening next year, this might even be closer than we think.

A lot of players are also anticipating the addition of more Support specializations. Augmentation Evoker ended up being a hit with players, but came with the downside of being the only spec currently filling that role. Adding more options for Support players seems like an obvious choice, either as new Specializations entirely, or by revamping less defined specializations.

WoW Classic: What’s Next

After a 1 hour long Overwatch 2 Deep Dive, it’s Classics turn. While nothing is set in stone or confirmed yet, there are a few things that are extremely likely. The first of course being the release of Cataclysm Classic. Releasing Cataclysm is an obvious move, and while there are many players that are vocally opposed to Cataclysm Classic, there are still a lot of players that missed it the first time around and want their chance.

For a lot of people, Cataclysm marks the start of “Modern WoW”. This is primarily because the original world and zones are all heavily revamped. Because of this, a lot of players are hoping for a refreshed outlet to get their Classic content fix. It isn’t unreasonable to expect a followup to Season of Mastery. Hopefully some lessons have been learned and this time around can be a significantly better experience for everyone interested.

As with every time people are waiting for Classic news, talks of Classic+ inevitably follow. While this is definitely something many players are interested in, it still is very unlikely to happen. On the other hand, Chris Metzen is now the “Executive Creative Director of the Warcraft Universe”. This could be followed by renewed interest in further developing Classic WoW and taking it down a different path.

WoW Deep Dive

On November 4th, players will be able to catch the “WoW Deep Dive” panel. During the last in-person Blizzcon back in 2019, this panel covered a lot of details for the yet-to-release Shadowlands expansion. This included expansion specifics such as Covenants and Soulbinds, but also bits and pieces of the thought process for Shadowlands. Things such as reworking the less than satisfying leveling system, as well as overhauling the new player experience.

While we don’t know anything here for sure, this panel happening makes it almost certain that the next expansion will be announced the day before.

Blizzcon Collection

During the virtual Blizzcons we have had the last few years, players have been able to purchase a “virtual ticket”, granting them access to a handful of bonus streams, as well as a bunch of in-game goodies. This year we instead have the Blizzcon Collection, a time limited collection of digital goods for various Blizzard games. This includes things such as Diablo 4 Mounts, Overwatch 2 Skins, Hearthstone Cards, and Warcraft Rumble Skins. For World of Warcraft, players will receive a Ysergle Pet, a Chilling Celebration Banner toy, and a Bound Blizzard flying mount.

These collections come in two variants, the “Epic Pack” costing $29.99 or 29.99€, and the “Legendary Pack” costing $49.99 or 49.99€. You can find the collection available in the battle.net store here.

World of Warcraft Guild Clash

During the convention, there will also be a new event. The World of Warcraft Guild Clash is “an all-day, three-event tournament featuring four of the most formidable guilds from World of Warcraft.” This will start Saturday, November 4th, together with the doors opening at the Anaheim Convention Center and is streamed on the official Warcraft Twitch channel.

This event is split into three separate events, starting with a 3v3 Arena Tournament. Each guild will field a 3v3 team, playing in a single-elimination bracket, best-of-five tournament, with a team knocked out each round. Following the arena tournament is an “MDI-style head-to-head single-elimination format” Mythic Dungeon race. For more information, visit the official post. The final event is yet to be revealed, so make sure to keep an eye out here for further updates!