July2021
News Take A Look At The New Skins In Overwatch's Summer Update
Cupcakes! Scuba gear! Mermaids!
Grab your sunscreen and a cooler full of light beer, it's time to head to the beach in Overwatch's new Summer Games update. And also, the football pitch. And the grill, and the bar. Following the launch of cross-play last month, Summer Games 2021 will bring back Lucioball for players to team up on across consoles,...
News Industry Veteran "Zoid" Retires And Reminisces About A Conference Call With Miyamoto
Call me by my (nick)name
Blizzard's most senior software engineer David "Zoid" Kirsch has announced his retirement from the company and the games business. The industry veteran has an enviable list of credits to his name, having worked for some of the biggest companies in the business and some of the biggest games of the last 20 years, including...
June2021
News Overwatch 2 Is Still Coming To Switch, But Blizzard Will Have To Make "Some Compromises"
Focus will be on gameplay features first
It's been an uphill battle for developers porting next-generation titles to the Switch since the system arrived in 2017. While we've seen some "impossible" ports like The Witcher 3 and DOOM, often studios have to make serious comprises to get certain games up and running on Nintendo's hybrid hardware. When...
News Switch Overwatch Players Can Now Team Up With Xbox, PlayStation And PC Heroes
The cross-play beta has arrived
Overwatch has made some massive announcements in recent times under the new game director Aaron Keller, and today sees the arrival of a long-awaited update: cross-play. Yes, Switch, PlayStation, Xbox and PC heroes can now play together. Just be mindful that it's still technically in beta. In order to participate in...
News Diablo II: Resurrected Unleashes Hell On Switch This September
Evil returns
Following on from its announcement back in February, Blizzard has now locked in a release date for Diablo II: Resurrected. Hell will be unleashed once again on 23rd September this year. You can now also wishlist the game over on Nintendo's website. Here's the descript
News Cross-Play Is Coming To Overwatch
And thus begins world peace
What the world needs now is cross-play, sweet cross-play. It's the only thing that there's just too little of. Luckily, Overwatch is now allowing us all to play games with each other no matter what consoles we have with their new Cross-Play Beta, available to anyone with a Battle.net account. “When Battle.net first...
May2021
News Overwatch 2 Is Removing The Second Tank Slot From PVP Teams
Each team will be comprised of just five players each
There's a major change coming to the player vs player component of Overwatch and the upcoming release Overwatch 2. According to the game's new director, Aaron Keller (Jeff Kaplan's replacement), Overwatch PVP matches will be reduced from six players per team, down to just five. Sorry Tank...
News Blizzard To Showcase New PVP Overwatch Maps In Special Fifth Anniversary Livestream
A developer AMA will follow on May 24th
Although many within the Overwatch community are still recovering from the departure of game director Jeff Kaplan last month, the latest developer update has now been posted. It's hosted by Aaron Keller - a founding member of the original Overwatch team and Jeff's replacement - and focuses on "what's next"...
April2021
News Overwatch Director Jeff Kaplan Leaves Blizzard After Almost 20 Years
His watch is over
Jeff Kaplan has a lot of strings to his bow, but now he's bowing out. As the Vice President of Blizzard Entertainment and the Director and public face of Overwatch, he's quite the well-known figure, but in an announcement today, he announced that he's leaving the company after almost two decades of service. Here's his letter, in...
News Blizzard Arcade Collection Free Update Adds Lost Vikings 2 And RPM Racing
And a "fistful of new features"
If you've been on the fence about the Blizzard Arcade Collection, now might be the perfect time to check it out. It seems Blizzard has been listening to fan requests for a little more content and has now added two extra games to its digital retro package. Yes, that's right - on top of The Lost Vikings, Rock 'n Roll...
News Console Players Will Be Included In Future Testing Phases Of Diablo II: Resurrected
Technical Alpha begins this Friday on PC
Back in February, Blizzard announced Diablo II: Resurrected for multiple platforms including the Nintendo Switch. Since then, there's been very little information about the remaster of this iconic classic. Now, though, in a new update - the company has confirmed its very first Technical Alpha for the game...
March2021
Including "50 employees" in live events
It has been tough times for a lot of industries over the past year, and perhaps one of the most difficult aspects of the pandemic for the video game industry has been the cancellation of live shows including expos and e-sports events. As these in-person events are no longer happening, Activision Blizzard has...
News Blizzard's Diablo II Remaster Will Support Your Old Save Files
Time to revive your original builds
Last month, Blizzard announced Diablo II: Resurrected. It's a remaster of the base game and Lord of Destruction, and it's coming to the Nintendo Switch and multiple other platforms this year. If you happen to be a returning player, you might be interested to know you'll actually be able to use your saves from the...
February2021
PSA Turn Off The Music In Rock N Roll Racing If You Stream The Blizzard Arcade Collection Online
Licensed soundtrack "not cleared for streaming"
During BlizzCon Online this weekend, Blizzard announced (and released) a three-in-one retro selection comprised of The Lost Vikings, Rock N Roll Racing and Blackthorne. Just days after the launch of the Blizzard Arcade Collection, Blizzard's Adam Fletcher has issued a warning about streaming Rock N...
News Get A Stack Of Extra Goodies In Blizzard's 30th Anniversary Celebration Collection
Includes the new Blizzard Arcade Collection
If you're interested in purchasing the Blizzard Arcade Collection for your Nintendo Switch, you might want to consider Blizzard's 30-year celebration collection instead. This pack not only includes Blizzard's new retro arcade collection but also a cache of commemorative in-game content for Overwatch and
News Overwatch 2 Team Needs More Development Time To Ensure It's A "Worthy Successor"
And a "true sequel"
Earlier this month, Activision Blizzard confirmed the sequel to the team-based shooter Overwatch would be not be arriving this year. At the time, it was simply explained how the company outlook for 2021 did not include the launch of this title. Today, at BlizzCon Online, game director Jeff Kaplan and the team elaborated on this,...
News Diablo II: Resurrected Is Coming To The Nintendo Switch This Year
Return to Hell
At Blizzard's all-digital BlizzCon event this year, the company announced Diablo II: Resurrected for the Nintendo Switch and multiple other platforms. It'll be arriving later this year. The remaster of this classic ARPG hack 'n slash will include the ability to toggle between new and old graphics, the same gameplay "you know and...
News Blizzard Arcade Collection Announced For Nintendo Switch, Out Today On The eShop
A blast from the past
This year's BlizzCon has just kicked off. To start the show, Blizzard announced the Blizzard Arcade Collection. It's out today on the Nintendo Switch for $19.99 / £16.99 and contains The Lost Vikings, Rock N Roll Racing and Blackthorne. Both the original editions and upgraded definitive editions are included in this package...
News Get Ready For More Remasters From Activision Blizzard In 2021
What might be making a comeback?
Video game powerhouse Activision Blizzard has been banking big bucks for some time now thanks to a number of remasters. We've seen the return of IP like Crash Bandicoot and Tony Hawk's Pro Skater from Activision's side, while Blizzard has chipped in with titles such as Warcraft III: Reforged - that one obviously...
News Activision Blizzard Says Overwatch 2 Won't Be Released This Year
But the world needs heroes
Activision Blizzard has confirmed the sequel to the team-based shooter Overwatch will not be arriving this year. This announcement was made by the company's chief financial officer and president of emerging businesses, Dennis M. Durkin, during the fourth-quarter earnings call. "Our outlook does not include Diablo IV or...
January2021
The 200-person studio now only works on Blizzard games
Vicarious Visions is no more. As of today, the 31-year-old company has been fully subsumed into Blizzard, and will be "fully dedicated to existing Blizzard games and initiatives" from now on. In an interview with gamesindustry.biz, a representative for Vicarious Visions said the following:...
News Overwatch's New Kanezaka Map Is Now Live, And It's Gearing Us Up For Overwatch 2
A new micro-event based around Hanzo is also available
We first got word that Kanezaka was heading to Overwatch last month, via game director Jeff Kaplan's developer update. Much like Hanamura Castle, this new map is set within Tokyo, Japan but instead of the usual 6v6 fights, Kanezaka offers a free-for-all deathmatch instead. After several weeks of...
October2020
News Nintendo Extends Overwatch Game Trial Offer To Switch Online Members In The West
Download it now
If you haven't tried out Blizzard's hero shooter Overwatch yet, next week is the perfect chance. Just like Japan, Nintendo will be offering a trial to Switch Online subscribers here in the west. It allows you to try out the full game from 13th - 20th October. There's no word on a sale just yet (like in Japan), but you will be
August2020
News Overwatch Director Reminds Us Which Hero He Would Like To See In Smash Bros.
Cheers, love!
Blizzard's Overwatch team recently did a Reddit AMA and was asked again which heroes they would like to see represented in Nintendo's Super Smash Bros. series. Game director Jeff Kaplan chose Tracer for the second time in a row, while the lead hero designer Geoff Goodman went with Doomfist - a hero with a moveset inspired by classic 2D...
February2020
News New Footage Of Blizzard's Axed Third-Person Shooter StarCraft: Ghost Surfaces Online
Originally announced for GameCube, Xbox and PS2
During the GameCube, PlayStation 2 and original Xbox generation in 2002, Blizzard was working on an all-format third-person shooter known as Starcraft: Ghost. The game experienced a bumpy development cycle and the GameCube version was cancelled in 2004. This followed with the project being completely...
