Report: Warcraft 3 Getting New Patch After Five Years

Blizzard’s Robert Bridenbecker has revealed in a new video message that Warcraft 3 is getting a new patch.

Bridenbecker, who is Blizzard’s head for Classic Games, made the announcement to the Chinese eSports Warcraft 3 community.  What seems unusual about the announcement is that the last time Warcraft 3 received a patch was in March 25, 2011, or nearly five years ago. Bridenbecker also revealed that this update, named Patch 1.27, will be released  simultaneously worldwide on March 15, 2016.

Our source found a confirmation of the reported patch as early as last January. However, back then this came from a report in Chinese, that had to be machine translated. With Bridenbecker himself appearing onscreen, this time it is all but confirmed that the patch is on its way.

Originally released in 2002, Warcraft 3 was a groundbreaking title in eSports thanks to its multiplayer mode, which allowed players to fight with other players online. Its subsequent expansion, Warcraft 3 The Frozen Throne, amassed an early eSports community, primarily based in Germany, Korea, and China. While Warcraft 3 popularity as an eSport dwindled through the years, Bridenbecker’s recent video message indicates that the scene is very much alive. Now, it seems that Blizzard wants to be more proactive in supporting its competitive community.

Blizzard’s Classic Games division very recently released an update to another old favorite, Diablo II. That update improved its compatibility with modern computers. It is likely that this upcoming patch will do the same thing for Warcraft 3. It remains to be seen if Blizzard will give it the same level of support that it does for its other current eSports games, such as Hearthstone and Heroes of the Storm.

Rumors of updates for StarCraft, Diablo 2, and Warcraft 3 came up  last November when new job opening listings came up on Blizzard.net. You can watch the video message from Robert Bridenbecker below.