Blizzard has announced a special WarCraft 30th Anniversary event.
They shared this statement on their official website:
“It’s a big year for the Warcraft universe and whether you’re a Hearthstone fan, you’ve joined the chaos in Warcraft Rumble, ventured into the world of Azeroth for the first time in Warcraft: Orcs and Humans, or you’re a World of Warcraft player, there’s something for everyone in our Warcraft 30th Anniversary Direct stream. You won’t want to miss a moment— or a single surprise.
Stay tuned after the stream for a special 20th Anniversary concert broadcast, “World of Warcraft: 20 Years of Music,” celebrating 20 Years of World of Warcraft music. Produced by Helvepic and filmed live in Switzerland the concert was performed by the 21st Century Orchestra and three choirs—Tale of Fantasy, Ardito, and the Madrijazz Gospel, this sweeping 190 performer ensemble will take you on a musical adventure through time and emotion.”
The WarCraft 30th Anniversary Direct will be held on November 13, 2024, 10:00 AM PST, and streaming on YouTube, Twitch, and TikTok. And as they usually do, there will be in-game rewards for active players of Hearthstone, Warcraft Rumble, and World of Warcraft.
What’s different this time is that it will have been over a year since Blizzard was acquired by Microsoft. While BlizzCon 2023 was held as a live event mere days after Microsoft secured their deal, BlizzCon 2024 was cancelled last April.
It was certainly convenient for Blizzard that WarCraft was having its 30th anniversary in the same year that they cancelled BlizzCon. This event now stands as Blizzard’s opportunity to make good with their WarCraft fandom, if not fans of Diablo or their other games.
Is there more reason to be interested or even excited about this? We certainly think so. Two years ago, Blizzard veteran Chris Metzen returned to the company as a creative advisor, after a six-year retirement. In September of last year, he got promoted to a full time position in the company.
Metzen is now Executive Creative Director of the Warcraft universe, a fitting title as he was one of the franchise’s first architects. Metzen’s art litters the manual for the original WarCraft: Orcs and Humans, and through the years he took on multiple creative roles, including world building, game direction, and of course, voicing Thrall.
We’re about to see WarCraft reintroduced under Metzen again. While fans are right to be cautiously optimistic, we can already see World of Warcraft: The War Within is promising big changes. Xal’atath has reemerged to threaten the world of Azeroth anew, in the initial salvo of Metzen’s WorldSoul Saga. So expect a big coming out party for the WarCraft universe’s big relaunch under Microsoft.
