In a statement provided to GamesRadar+ – it's the same statement Zynga sent to IGN, which – a PR represe🧸ntative tells us "Zynga has made the difficult decision to cease operations at its Echtra studio, ending development on future titles and reducing roles."

"This decision is part of a strategic realignment of the company's resources and priorities," the representa♏tive continues in the official PR statement. "We will work closely with impacted employees so they are treated with the utmost respect and consideration as we navigate this difficult process." One former Echtra designer appears to already be .

Diablo co-creato🍎rs and Blizzard North founders Max and Erich Schaefer created Echtra alongside other Blizzard vets in 2016; four years later, the studio released Torchlight 3, its first – and now, only – game.

Since 2021, after being acquired by Zynga – which itself was soon after 澳洲幸运5开奖号💃码历史查询:acquired by Take-Two for $12.7 billion 🃏– Echtra has been working on an unannounced cross-platform RPG alongside NaturalMotion.

But NaturalMotion had been struggling under Zynga, too. The studio released the full version of the free-to-play arena shooter 澳洲幸运5开奖号码历史查询:Star Wars: Hunters last year, though NaturalMotion already plans to 🌳 after at Zynga.

Last year, Zynga's parent company Take-Two also anno💃unced nearly 600 layoffs and $140 million in canceled projects.

Helldivers 2 CEO says industry layoffs have seen "very little accountability" from executives who "let go of one third of the company because you made stupid decisions."

You have to feel for Diablo community manager Adam Fletcher, technically the franchise's director o⛎f social and content marketing. Day in, day out, this guy is fielding complaints from a vocally critical player base, going back and forth between high-level developers and the public, and ac❀ting as the face of a franchise that seems like it's always seeing more ups than downs.

With Diablo 4 season 8 being taken to task by the , , and even in , I'm tempted to c🌃heck in on ol' Fletcher. You doin' alr✨ight, pal?

In all seriousness, Diablo's whole community team deserves a lot of respect. They presumably aren't responsible for things people are mad about, which include the prices in season 8's battle pass, perceived repetitiveness in the new mechanics, and what's seen by some as a botched Berserk collab, andꦕ yet they must take responsibility for it as part of their jobs.

Anyway, in what I can only assume was a muchও-needed bright spot in Fletcher's da🙈y, Diablo 4 streamer MacroBioBoi spotlighted a "massive Diablo W" on Twitter, writing, "y'all gotta market these changes better! I would've been salivating waiting for this patch if I knew Ravens were being added to every major city!"

The streamer is referring to a change that indeed isn't listed in the new Diablo 4 , but by all meaꦡns should've been.

Ravens of the Tree were first added in the season 7 PTR to Headhunt Zones as a way for players to turn in Grim Favors remotely and withou꧃t having to leave the action, but with this latest change, they can now do the same thing and most major c🐷ities. It's nothing huge, but it'll make it easier and more convenient to clear out Grim Favors from your inventory and earn seasonal rewards, and that's worth highlighting.

"This didn’t make th💜e notes. Slipped in but is a good welcome change for players," Fletcher said as he claimed his rightful W with a celebratory emoji.

Look, when it's you vs. thꦏe internet, you have to celebrate the small wins, if you're Adam Fletcher specifically, you might also want to cash in on this win and take a little vacation🦋 until the noise around Diablo 4 season 8 dies down.

If you're on the other side of the conversation, here are some 澳洲幸运5开奖号码历史查询:games like Diablo to play when you've had enough of Sanctuary.

Original story:

Diablo 4 season 8 launched today with brand new boss powers, Apparition Incursion💙 events, a new seasonal questline, and the new Reliquary ba♒ttle pass system for obtaining themed cosmetics.

It's that last feature we're primarily talking about today, because while I'm excited to check out everything new in season 8, I hav🐟e a fairly urgent PSA on a bug related to Diablo 4's Reliquary system while Blizzard works on a fix.

As on social media, the Reliquary system appears to be bugged and is causing some players to lose Pla▨tinum without gaining any reward for their purch🃏ases.

"The reliquary is bugged and can possibly take your platinum without giving you ANY reliquary!! Please upvote for visibility!" reads a Reddit p﷽ost with more than 700 upvotes and 200 comments, many of which share similar experiences.

"I paid 1000 to unlick the 3 paid reliquaries but they are still asking for platinum to unlock," reads another repor✤t from a Redditor. "E🧸ven the free one won't unlock lol."

I reached out to Blizzard and a spokesperson told me "a server hot fix is scheduled for this afternoon and will address the issue of purchased Reliquarie🍸s not appearing properly."

Although the issue seems to be affecting a♓ fairly limited number of players oജn various platforms, it might be worth holding off on making that Reliquary purchase until Blizzard patches out whatever bug is keeping players' from their due rewards. I'll keep this article updated as we learn more.

Diablo 4 could come to Nintendo Switch 2, but series head says "live services on Switch have been a little bit challenging in the past."

Last month, it was reported that four game companies – Nexon, Krafton, Netmarble, and NCSoft – were all competing in an attempt to secure global publishing rights and work on new games in the StarCraft series.

A machine-translated claimed that each company was putting forward different ideas for what they could do with the series, with some apparently eve﷽n pitching these s💜uggestions to Blizzard in person.

Now, it's been reported that this 🔴battle is seemingly over. A new (which we've machine translated, but it's also been partially translated by ) states that Nexon (which developed The First Descendant and more recently published The First Berserker: Khazan) has been chosen as Blizzard's "preferred bidder," enteri♈ng into "main negotiations" with the company.

It's not currently clear what kind of new game (or games) StarCraft could see under Nexon. It was previously very vaguely said that the company had suggested some kind of un🦩ique way to use the IP, which could mean a whole lot of things. If it's to be believed, and plans haven't changed, it does seem to suggest that it wouldn't simply tread the same ground as previous entries in the RTS series.

Curiously, the same new re🌳port claims that, alongside its StarCraft-shaped win, Nexon has also bagged distribution rights for an upcoming mobile Overwatch game in Japan and Korea.

Bloomberg reporter Jason Schreier reported on the apparent development of an Overwatch mobile game i꧟n his book🀅 about Blizzard which was published last year, so this isn't the first we've heard of a release like this, although MTN now says that it's thought to be a MOBA title.

Be sure to take all of this with a pinch of salt for the time being, anyway, as none of this has been publicly confirmed. StarCraft fans are long overdue a win, though, so here's hoping that on the back of 澳洲幸运5开奖号码历史查询:whispers about a StarCraft shooter, theꦯ series might finally get the at🎐tention it deserves.

In the meantime, be sure to check out the 澳洲幸运5开奖号码历史查询:best strategy games you can play now.

In an interview with Danny Peña’s Gamertag Radio (spotted by ), general manager of Diablo, Rod Fergusson, says: "I think there's opportunity ther🌳e for sure. I mean, w✱e have Diablo 3 and Diablo 2 Resurrected already on the Switch, and with backwards compatibility it'll be playable on Switch 2."

It's not a sure thing, however. While the Switch 2 is powerful enough to run the game, it's the live-service elements that🅰 are trickier to manage.

"I think the challenge is less around the hardware and just about how we… you know, live services on Switch have been a little bit challenging in the past," Fergusson says. "So I'm hopeful that as they launch this June and as we look to the future, th🍎at becomes easier and easier, so it makes more sense to put a live service on that🐻 platform."

Fergusson doesn't elab🍰orate on what past challenges have been with putting live-service games on the Switch, but Nintendo generally isn't known for great online play. Just look at Smash players and their lag hatred. Updating and patching a game like Diablo 4 on Nintendo's platform could be a challenge.

Still, the Switch 2 seems to be upping the ante and focusing on keeping players connected. Its new C button is all about sharing your screen and streaming your gameplay while on video calls with your friends. Nintendo's serious enough about mu♊ltiplayer to invent its own Discord, so hopefully more online-only games can find a home on Swit♕ch 2.

In the meantime, check out all the 澳洲幸运5开奖号码历史查询:upcoming Switch 2 games.

Blizzard has revealed the full details of its upcoming Diablo 4 Berserk collaboration, and it's full of cool-looking cosmetics from Kentaro Miura's iconic manga as well as one of the most cursℱed fictional creatures ไI've ever laid my eyes on. And as someone who falls asleep to cosmic horror, that's saying something.

Blizzard teased Diablo 4's first ever collab las💝t🌸 week, but now we have a full cinematic trailer as well as 🍎details about how it all works from a new . Basically, there's a new themed currency and items you can buy with it, along with some bundles that'll be available in the in-game shop.

Berserk fans will recognize the new earnable currency Behelits, which will occasionally drop from elite baddies, after which you can exchange them at the new Berserk Reliquary. The rewards available there will include the Hawks Destiny Back trophy, the Skull Knight’s Heraldr🎃y Mount Armor, and the Brand of Sacrifice Maཧrking. You can check those out below:

If you manage to collect all of the above loot, you'll get yourself the Od of the Berserker Emblem, "a potent symbol that💜 aligns with the unflinching violence of its wearer."

While that all looks really neat, it does seem like the real primo loot here is confined to the in-game shop, which🐠 will let you use premium currency to buy the iconic Berserker armor for your Barbarian, the Hawk of Light and Struggler armor sets for your Rogue, and the wicked Skull Knight getup for your Necromancer. There's also the Warhorse of the Hawk mount and armor set that includes the Fantasia Mount, Fantasia's Bridle, Reborn Band of the Hawk Mount Trophy, and God Hand’s Gift Mount Trophy.

Last and certainly least, The Schnoz. I haven't watched a ton of Berserk and thus was ill-prepared for the jump scare I got when I scrolled down the🗹 news release and got to Diablo 4's new pet, but good gracious me oh my, I want it gone. I don't care how cute its personality may or may not b🔴e, I just don't want to ever see it again. In fact, its brief inclusion in the Diablo 4 in-game shop will probably be the best microtransaction deterrent I've ever experienced.

The Diabl🐻o 4 Berserk collab will run from May 6 🌟at 10am PT to June 3 at 10am PT.

Blizzard says Diablo 4 season 8 kicks off a new focus on "permanent upgrades" for the base game instead of just "throwaway changes."

In a roundtable chat with Diablo 4 lead seasons designer Deric Nunezꦬ and lead live game designer Colin Finer, a common refrain was the wider development team's "evolving" seasonal design philosophy that will prioritize "amplifying and improving its foundations," in Nunez's words.

"It's critically important that we're evolving Diablo and we're not ne😼cessarily putting all of our effort on throwaway changes," 🔯said Finer. "We're really looking at existing features like Nightmare dungeons and Infernal Hordes and leveling those up.

"We really want to make sure that Diablo, from season to season, not only is getting a bunch of cool seasonal content, but we're also ꧂e🀅volving the game."

Historically, new Diablo 4 seasons add a questline that's separate from the main campaign – or the Eternal realm, as it's called in Diablo-speak – without a whole lot of changesꦍ that stick around once the season's over, asℱide from balance tweaks and minor quality of life stuff.

But it sounds like, starting with season 8, we'll start seeing bigger, more impactful updates that impact the base game as well as the seasꦓonal realm.

We already know season 8 is adding new open-world boss rush Apparition incursion events, making huge changes to the boss ladder system, and revampꦜing the battle pass system to allow for more player choice.

Thanks to the recent 澳洲幸运5开奖号码历史查询:2025 roadmap, we also know Season 9, Sins of the Horadrim, will add new Nightmare𒈔 Dungeons activities that let you dial up the dungeons' intensity as you make your way through them.

And then season 10, Infernal Chaos, will make Infernal Hordes "more chaotic as we pu🐷t new choices into your hands," Blizzard said, also promising "advanced𒊎 options between Infernal Waves."

Echoing Finer's messaging on the 🌸new seasonal approach, Nunez added:

"New seasonal novelties are fun and all, but it's really a great opportunity to not jus🎃t introduce ephemeral systems, but use the seasonal model to introduce new permanent upgrades to the features that pla꧒yers are already engaging with.

"And I guess that's inherent to how we're laying the🌃 foundation to strengthen the overall base foundation of Diablo 4 and the features players engage with over and over and over ag🎃ain, so that by the time the expansion hits, the base foundation of Diablo 4 is as strong as it can possibly be to carry on all the new exciting stuff."

Diablo 4 teases its first-ever collab: Berserk, the legendary dark fantasy manga that's inspired countless games from Dark Souls to Final Fantasy.

In a roundtable interview attended by GamesRadar+, Diablo 4 lead live game designer Colin Finer spoke at some length about the ever-evolving topic of balance, which, I think it's safe to say, has given Blizzard a lot of headaches since the game's launch in 2023.

Blizzard has gone back and forth on the issue, notably letting broken Spiritborn builds run hogwild until a massive nerf brought them back to Earth in the season 7 PTR. Season 7 itself then spawned the overpowered Blood Wave Necroman🔯cer build, which is exactly what B༺lizzard intends to avoid next season.

"We absolutely want powerful builds, but I think it's finding that sweet spot. We think the Blood Wave fell into a category that was too powerful," Finer said. "There wasn't enough of a journey to actually get to a point where you're just demolishing bosses and enemies. We think that's totally OK and cool for builds to get to that place eventually, but we don't think it should be as easy as, yo🌜u walk into Torment 1, and you equip one Unique iꦓtem, and now the game is trivial … in season 8, we're changing our philosophy on balance a little bit."

With how time flies these days, it feels like it was yester🌠day that I was writing about Blizzard essentially deciding it was more important to let players have fun with their broken builds for a while, but alas, it's been months since they said that, and in that time they've decided that approach "was a really big disrespect to players' time," as Finer put it. "Like, if you had built up Blood Wave Necro, you'd done all this work to scale it, and then in the midseason patch we just destroy it, that felt like we sort of broke your character. We didn't like that.

"Now, our approach going forward, is in the first week or so, early into the season, if we start to see things that are just wildly overpowered, just completely breaking the game, there's no journey to getting to a godlike state, we're gonna act on it quickly so that you aren't necessarily wasting a bunch of time investment," he continued. "We're nipping it in the bud before you spend weeks and weeks building this character … Our approach is trying to be more fine-tuned to make that progression journey more gratifying and that power fantasy, once you reali✨ze it, much more satisfying."

I respect Blizzard's adaptability, but I do wonder if they're setting themselves up for another vicious cycle of nerfs followed by backlash followed by damage control and future changes to balance philosophy. The action RPG holding pattern, that is. As long as bugs and exploits slip through the cracks and into updates, it seems like there will always be this problem and no easy, universally agreed upon solution. Or maybe I'm just jaded and everyone will be🐠 happy with this new approach. But that also sounds wildly unrealistic.

Diablo 4 teases its first-ever collab: Berserk, the legendary dark fantasy manga that's inspired countless games from Dark Souls to Final Fantasy.

We don't know a whole lot of details at this point about what specifically is featured in the D꧋iablo 4 x Berserk crossover, but Blizzard released a cinematic teaser trailer on its official Twitter account, and the collaboration looks vaguely promising so far.

In the 30-second anime-styled teaser, w💫e see a Diablo Barbarian holding his own against a horde of demons, chopping away at the little buggers with his giant two-handed sword. He lets out an epic roar at the end before we see the official Diablo x Berserk logo. Hype.

Taking a closer look at the fine print in the trailer, it seems the Berserk collab will include "optional in-ga𒁏me purc🤡hases" including "random items," which sounds a whole lot like loot boxes.

But, before you break your keyboard, the fine print also mentions Diablo Immortal as well as iOS and Google Play, which strongly implies the mobile game is also crossing over with Berserk. And if that's the case, it's possibl💛e that loot boxes are only coming to Diablo Immortal and that Diablo 4's themed co🗹ntent will be limited to regular, transparent microtransactions.

It's also unclear when exactly the crossover event is takingℱ place, but with season 8 on the way sometime after season 7 ends on April 29, there's a good chance it'll be part of that.

Blizzard recently detailed🌜 the full Diablo 4 roadmap for 2025 with teasers for seasons 9 and 10, and it reconfirmed that ꦰa new expansion is still coming inꦫ 2026. It also teased multiple "new IP collabs," so expect more to come after Berserk.

"I'm not sure where Diablo is going": Former Blizzard boss says Diablo 4 seasons "need to get off the cycle of shipping, spending 2 months to fix issues, then repeating."

Blizzard recently gave every Damage hero a new passive that allows them to reduce foes' healing by 20% for two seconds—when you consider that they also got a 澳洲幸运5开奖号码历史查询:se💜lf-healing passive lately alongside tanks, they aren't doing bad. For a competitivꩲe shooter all about team synergy and party composition, that's a pretty seismic shift, so the team is🍌 now making roster adjustments in an attempt to reach that unattainable 'balance.'

In a recent , director Aaron Keller said the new passive aimed to push "heroes to the forefront of a fight" and net Damage heroes more eliminations. Both goals havꦕe been a success, but Keller admits that it might have been "pushed a bit too far."

To accommodate such a drastic change, the team is "touching roughly half the heroes in the roster" to "make sure that all heroes feel viable." For example, medic sniper Ana will have her grenade's damage and healing buffed from 60 to 90 to "give her more self-survivability." Lifeweaver is also ♌getting a healing boost, with his maximum heal increasing from 70 to 90. Tanks Doomfist and Mauga will also enjoy damage buffs, meanwhile, Wrecking Ball needs to wait until Season 10 before he sees a small rework.

Overwatch 2 Season 9's midseason update is due on March 12 with changes big and small hitting♏ the shooter. 

Elsewhere in the world of chirpy heroes and thumb-twirling villains, 澳洲幸运5开奖号码历史查询:Overwatch 2's esports scene 🤡is returning in a much different manner than we're used to. Micro꧟soft's gaming division also ꦇlaid off almost 2,000 employees, which sadly affected the Overwatch 2 team. 

One former Overwatch 2 developer explained the shooter's jankiness: "The script looks like every subway map in the world layered over each other."

On February 9, 2024 Developer Eleventh Hour Games announced that Last Epoch had sold a total of ahead of its February 21, 2024 launch. It comes as no surprise, as with the release of Diablo 4 and the continued success of Path of Exile, that the ARPG is alive and well. But is it fair to say Last Epoch has succeeded because of Diablo 4, due to Blizzard Entertainmen꧃t’s monet🐬ization model?

Put to the sword

A wave of popular variety streamers have taken to playing Last Epoch recently, which may or may not reflect the fact that Diablo 4 is currently in the midd🔯le of its Season 3 with update patches rolling out nips and tucks that are pretty light on the ground. What the wider attention probably does reflect is the fact that the general audience craves something Diablo-like that isn’t Diablo. Path of Exile succeeded because of its own unique mechanics while also giving players the dreary aesthetic they were left wanting after the release of Diablo 3. While Last Epoch does have a fair bit of color to it, with each of the locals in the game featuring a distinct palette that lends itself well to the style of the game, it still more or less emulates the highly acclaimed and deeply beloved Diablo 2.

Last Epoch, on the other hand, effectively provides a bridge between the two franchises. It has the depth and build variety that Path of Exile has without being🌠 too overwhelming, but still has the core system of Diablo in place. The game feels as though it was made for players who are in the middle of the casual and hardcore experience, and also offers built-in support for various challenge modes such as the 'Ironman' challenge that has become popular over the past few years, and a ladder sys✱tem that Diablo 4 still lacks. 

Last Epoch also boasts an offline mode which sets it apart from many AR🃏PG giants, which I personally find to be one of its best features. This lends itself to Last Epoch feeling more like a classic action role-player, or even a game of decades past, and less like a live service game which Diablo has more or less become with its heavy monetization and constant need for online connectivityꦛ as it has pivoted into something of an MMO-lite.

But with the success of Last Epoch, and the continued interest in Path of Exile, the ARPG genre has swung back into some measure of popularity. Sure, Diablo 4 is Blizzard Entertainment’s 澳洲幸运5开奖号码历史查询:fastest selling game of all time, but player retention has continued to remain relatively low by comparison. It feels like the genre is ripe to grow and evolve, even if the foundation and core mechanics are largely the same. And I hope with how receptive the general audience has been to Last Epoch signals exciting times ahead for the gꦚenre.

Love yourself some high-stakes action RPG-ing? Check out the best 澳洲幸运5开奖号码历史查询:games like Diablo 

This one was more punishiꦫng, and by extension more difficult due to a feature pulled straight from the Diablo series: permadeath Named World of WarCraft Classic Harcore, the new server landed in August 2023 with new, decidedly more punishing stakes. It took a while t💖o get the ball rolling, but the brutal nature of these servers caused players to band together in ways that feel reminiscent of MMORPGs of a previous generation – the generation when World of WarCraft was still fresh, and MMORPGs were still novel to the general public.

This is something I’ve persoꦦnally felt first-hand as well. The Trade Chat on my server is in flux at all hours of the day with players looking for groups to clear content, finish quests, and level up together. The nature of Hardcore Classic more or less encourages, if not forces, collaboration between players in ways that the “Retail,” or the most up-to-date versi🔯on of World of WarCraft does not. You do get some players who aren’t always on their best behavior, but I’ve had my fair share of encounters with those looking to lend a hand.

Peace and love

While leveling up my Human Paladin, for example, I had pulled one too many murlocs while trying to locate the corpse of a fallen soldier for a quest. Thankfully, though, nearby players intervened and helped me survive the onslaught of three amphibious monsters. In thanks, I provided them with a Blessing of Might and we went back on our way. This has happened several times through my leveling adventure in Classic Hardcore, and each time before I would meet my inevitable end at the hand of some monster I had accidentally pulled, players would swarm me🐈 in their bid to help. It’s an attitude I’ve extended to others as well, since one fatal mistake means that you’re back on the grind from level one, your progress snatched away in its entirety. 

But outside of that, players have generally been helpful. I wanted to make the extremely dangerous trek to Teldrassil (the Night Elven starting city) with a friend so that we could meet members of our group that had freshly remade as Night Elves after dying. When approaching other high level players for a pote🍒ntial escort, one Dwarf generously gave me a single gold to pay a mage for a teleport. It’s these kinds of instances that help add that sense of community. Everyone is helping out or wants to help in any way they can. Even if it’s assisting in killing a pack of mobs, g🙈iving new players gold, and sometimes the occasional free bag.

World of WarCraft has always had something of a stigma tied to its community, and Classic Hardcore is helping to dismantle it to some degree. Popular variety streamer, CohhCarnage, that he was having a positive experience with the MMORPG more recently, and chalked it up to the nature of it being a more arduous experience than the vanilla version of the game. “People a꧅ren’t playing on this server because they feel the need to be the best,” he said, when explaining the allure of the server, along with the milder, more welcoming attitude of the players that continually throw themselves to (and at) the wolves.

Cohh is also part of one of the largest guilds on the Classic Hardcore realm, Defias Pillager, and is joined by the likes of other popular streamers Emiru, Mizkif, and sodapoppin. And in tandem with the mostly positive reception to The War Within, the Classic Hardcore servers have seen a jump in popularity — specifically Defias P🎉illager. Three months ago the server hosted somewhere around 69,000 players and now sits at a . Blizzard even shared as to what the most played classes on the servers were, the top five causes of death, and most played races. This has likely changed due to the steadily increasing popularity of the Classic 🐲Hardcore servers, but provides a look into general progress that was made shortly after the launch of the servers.

But outside of the allure of potentially running into your favorite streamer who is returning to the game or striking while the iron is hot, World of WarCraft Classic Hardcore emulates what it felt like playing old MMORPGs. It’s clunky and experimental in a way that most modern MMORPGs are not. But you can see the building blocks there that would go on to define World of WarCraft as one of the mꦺost formative and i📖nfluential MMORPGs of all time. 

And it’s this, in tandem with the clear sense of community, that makes Classic Hardcore so charming and worth playing. It almost feels like a crystallization of a time when you would hunker down on TeamSpeak with guild mates and friends to dedicate time to leveling with groups or taking down ferocious world bosses. It forces you to take that time and have that kind of commitment to a role, or even an experience that otherwise feels missing from modern MMORPGs in their structure and design. There’s a reason why Classic Hardcore is popular, and it isn’t just because of its wild difficulty, but its unwaveri🎶ng sense of  community.

The 25 澳洲幸运5开奖号码历史查询:best RPGs you can (and should) play right now

I sat down with Holly Longdale to get a sense of what the future holds for World of Warcraft. It's incredible, really, that Blizzard Entertainment is still pushing to surprise and delight players after 20 long years. The War Within, which will allow you to descend into the dark depths of Azeroth for the very first time, is described to me as a "huge risk", albeit one whichꦺ – if Longdale and her colleagues can get it right – will set out a "foundation" for the continuing evolution and expansion of Warcraft. 

Below you'll find my conversation with Longdale, where we tackle questions surrounding the Worldsoul Saga, the reason Blizzard isn't interested in pursuing World of Warcraft Classic Plus, and why the team has🍌 no intention of wiping the slate clean once Anduin and Thrall's latest adventure draws to an end. 

GamesRadar+: 2024 is going to be a huge year for World of Warcraft. Not only is the MMO set to celebrate its 20th anniversary, but Modern will receive The War Within expansion and Classic the return of Cataclysm. What do you think about where Warcraft is now, and what it is becoming? 

Holly Longdale: For Modern, I feel like we started taking this journey after Dragonflight. It's really difficult to overstate not only the great work the team has done but what a difference what we are doing is making to our content cadence. We're broadening things – whether it's Turbulent Timewaves, investing in holidays again, or making sure our patches feel really approachable. We're going through this process of understanding, and we're not pretending like we've got that nailed. We're still learning so much, and we're going to push ourselves as 𝓰we go into next year by doing more experimentation. That's very important for World of Warcraft – we're always player-forward. 

With Classic, we've been able to go a bit crazy. The team says that it wants to do a season where we just throw thing🌞s up in the air and see where they land, and they came up with the Season of Discovery. Hardcore came from a similar place – we saw that players were making their own hardcore challenges, so why not support them with something official? It's all about supporting our development teams to understand the audience better than anyone else. 

When you say you're still learning so much, how does that factor into what you're putting forward for players? 

We have access to a lot of data and feedback from forums, so we have to find a balance between the two. It's been really interestﷺing to see what players are actually doing, which is more in a variety of playstyles. I'm so proud of the team because everything we're seeing right now is unprecedented – I feel that we've really hit on something special in both Modern and Classic. Looking ahead to these next three exꦇpansions, we're going to take what we're learning about players and really invest that back into the game; the team is really energized by that.  The beauty of Classic is that we're kind of figuring it out as we go, as we understand more about what our players want. We have the freedom to do that now.

I feel like the Classic team had a choice to make, whether to push in a new direction after Wrath of the Lich King or push forward towards Cataclysm. Why did you decide to continue chasing the Modern timeline of releases?  

With Cataclysm – because we understand our communities, and because we lived through Cataclysm, we started to ask ourselves, you know, 'should we do this?' And so we did run surveys and looked at data (it's hard to express just how many things we looked at) but when the survey came back it was strikingly positive – the number of people who are like, 'well🦩, actually, I really liked Cataclysm.' We were delighted by that. But of course, if we were going to do Cataclysm, it has to🐬 have that Classic flavor. 

[Q] Which is where we start to see ideas like Season of Discovery come into the picture. That's a new approach to play, so I suppose the question is how far could Classic diverge from the original template? 

So, the phrase♒ 'Classic Plus' comes up all the time, and nobody can♚ agree on what exactly that means. 

[Q] I've been a part of the Warcraft community for a few decades now, and it's rare to find it so divided! 

At its core, I think what players are asking for is: 'We love Classic, but do something neat with it.' Right? And so Season of Discovery is sort of like a toe in the water. Like okay, well how about this? You know, the idea for the season came from how we tested classes, which was by level ranges, and how players ma𒈔de their own endgames within those level ranges. We thought that was super fun, and decided to build something ar♏ound that. But another part of Classic that is its essence – at least for now, anything can change of course – is that it's built foundationally on what came before. 

If we were ever going to say, okay, we're going to – again, I'm just paraphrasing what some people refer to as 'Classic Plus' – build a whole new zone or a weird timeline or some multiverse kind of thing, that's💧 a longer conversation. So Season of Discovery feels like a good opportunity to experiment. To try some different stuff, just like we did with Hardcore – which was another experiment. You know, Classic really is a rare and beautiful thing.  

Announcing three expansions simultaneously is a big statement of intent. How has the Worldsoul Saga impacted your approach to the development and evolution of World of Warcraft? 

One of the really cool things about the idea of doing three expansions is how it has coalesced a pretty significantly sized team around jamming story. We know what it is beginning to end, which means there are threads between all of them that are meaningful. Our team, as much as our players, are really driven by passion for ideas and creativity. And they're just jamming all the time, and they're working ahead further than they ever have at any time i💝n the past. That gives them incredible confidence, which also allows them to do some invention. 

With the new evergreen features debuting in The War Within – Delves, Warbands, Hero Talens, and so on – are these the result of this wider view of where the franchise is going next? 

The foresight to know how The War Withꦉin is going to lead to the next expansi🌟on and the next expansion puts us in a really unique position, and kind of frees the team up to think a little bigger long term. This is a really unique and rare opportunity, and the constant feedback we are going to get will be incredible. This is the most fun I've had in this job for a really long time, because the journey is going to be so long-lasting, and the players can see it." 

The Worldsoul Saga will eschew the biennial release structure, which World of Warcraft has followed since the 2008 release of Wrath of the Lich King. Why quicken the speed in which you deliver expansions now? 

This isn't necessarily a new idea, it's just that we're finally in a position to be able to tackle it. Just look at Dragonflight where, every eight weeks, we dropped some meaningful content based on a playstyle. That's been so successful. From the data we have, everything is unprecedented with the way players are enjoying the game right now based on the different ways that they play. Everything is saying▨ players just want more content to play with, and they just want to have more fun. That's what's driving this decision, and there's no reason other than that. Yes, World of Warcraft expansions are a monumental labor of love, but we think we can do it faster. We've invested in the team to make it faster. Because it's very clear to us that players want it, and that's why we exist. 

Is revealing all three expansions at once a risk? You've plotted out a lengthy roadmap and made yourselves accountable to delivering on it, which surely invites more pressure on really nailing big ideas and new feature sets.

It's an absolutely huge risk, but we owe it to our players. We can just keep… Well, I mean, we could have just kept doing it as we've been doing it. But we don't want to! You know, we made it to the 20-year mark – that's awesome, and this team is so incredible for achieving that. A𒈔n🅠d for the next 20 years, let's look at things differently. Let's take some risks, like us committing to three expansions. I believe in this team, and in our ability to hit incredible quality, delight players, and make something awesome. But yeah, of course, it's risky. 

Obviously, it's difficult to look beyond the Worldsoul Saga right now, but do you view this as the culmination of a storyline that's been building since 2004, or building a foundation for the future? I suppose what I'm asking is whether this trilogy of expansions will ultimately push towards a blank slate that Blizzard could use to start over. 

The idea of a 'blank slate' is not a conversation we've had. You know, when you mention building a foundation, that's exactly what we are doing. We're obviously not talking about features for future expansions at this point, but I don't think we go a month wi💎thout doing some kind of technical upgrade. I wouldn't even know how to draw a visual about how conversations happen on this team; so many threads that go in fast directions from technology, to advancements, to inventions of how we play the game. We're going to keep going, because we love World of Warcraft. 

So no, no blank slate… until players tell us they don't want it, we're going to keep going. We exist because of our players, and we always want to get better – be more mindful, and stretch where we want to take WoW in the future. Particularly wi🎶th this journey. So yes, the Worldsoul Saga is a foundation for our future. Everything we do is a learning experienc🥀e; look at what we've accomplished over the last year. We do something and we change, improve, or (hopefully) acknowledge that what we're doing is the right thing for players and become more rooted in that idea. And we'll continue to do that. 

You know, we always had a good sense that more content might make people happy [lau♉ghter], but that's the nice thing about what we've been able to do with a team as large as the one we have. We can focus our energy on where 💃we are going to invest, especially when we come upon things we didn't expect. So we've got some pretty awesome plans coming for the next year, to breathe new life into World of Warcraft, while still maintaining everything players expect. That's sort of the first step of building a foundation and where we can take it from there.

Associate game director Brent Gibson says Vessel of Hatred is an opportunity to "take one big cohesive step f⛄orward." It'll give you the opportunity to take one of your characters from the Eternal realm into the southlands of Sanctuary, tracking Neyrelle as she pushes into the heart of the Torajan Jungle. "She's following the footsteps of a Prophet of Light," says production director Tiffany Wat, "looking for a way to deal with the Soulstone and the Prime Evil trapped inside." 

Ushering in the Age of Hatred

The gates separating Nahantu and Sanctuary have long been sealed. The region escaped the wrath of Lillith throughout the initial campaign, and 72 years have passed since we last ventured to some of i♑ts most infamous locations – if you've ever wondered how the Kurast Docks have fared since Act 3 of Diablo 2, the Vessel of Hatred will provide answers. And yet for all the nostalgia inherent to setting the expansion in such an iconic area, Gibson promises that this is very much the continuation of Diablo 4 that you've been waiting for. "You're definitely going to learn the fate of the stone. We're picking up right where we left off, continuing the story that we explored in the main ꦆcampaign." 

When the 'Age of Hatred' descends upon Sanctuary, the mortal realm will be dealing with the pervasive power of Mephisto, and without many of its guardians for protection – Inarius is gone, the Horadrim outcast and defeated. Blizzard won't be drawn on too many story details just yet, although Wat says we'll witness Neyrelle "directly challenging the influence of a Prime Evil" as she heads towards the Temple City of Travincal; once the holy headquarters ꧟of the Church of Zakarum in Kurast, the site where the original ritualistic imprisonment of Mephisto was undertaken. 

Gibson says that "by continuing our story, by adding the new region, a new class, and all of these new ways to play, we can really go big. We're having a lot of fun experimenting with seasons and learning a lot by listening to our players, and we'll be able to use all of that feedback to take another big step forward." Because of how much the core Diablo 4 experience is changing every month – as evidenced by what we've seen so far through the Season of the Malignant and the Season of Blood – Blizzaꦯrd says it's difficult to tease what those 'new ways to play' might be right now, but I suspect that a lot of it 🎀will be driven through the sixth player-class joining the Diablo 4 roster. 

When Diablo 4 launched in June 2023, it did so with five iconic Diablo classes: Barbarian, Druid, Necromancer, Rogue, and Sorcerer. Gibson says the intention was to deliver "very specific power fantasies" the first time around, with particular focus paid to the interplay between the group for the purposes of nightly dungeoneering undertaken by players. If you're hoping to see the Paladin or Witch Doctor return, 澳洲幸运5开奖号码历史查询:it's time to temper tꦑhose 💃expectations. "Honestly, we were at a crossroads. When we got to the point of talking about the expansion, we had to decide between doi𒉰ng another classic𒅌 or doing something new. We felt like we had a responsibility to bring new ways to play to Sanctuary." 

Expanding Sanctuary

Gibson says he's desperate to share more on the new class, but I get it – Blizzard needs to save some surprises for 2024. Right now, the studio would rather draw attention to the big picture, and work to assuage෴ any fears that Vessel of Hatred may disrupt the thunderous content release cadence that Diablo 4 is currently enjoying. Kayleigh Calder tells me that they have no plans to slow things down, with the lead game producer explaining that this is "really just another opportunity to release even more content for the game." She adds: "The entire team is always talking about what will go into future seasons, what's going on with the expansion, and how these things will interconnect and support each other."

"Like Kayleigh said, they can feed off of each other," Gibson continues, explaining that the seasonal model will continue alongside the expansion to ensure that no defenders of Sanctuary get left behind. "When we launch, we're going to have stuff for Seasonal players, we're going to have stuff for the Eternal players… Basically, every player type that we have, we're go♕ing to have something there for them to play with. That's really important to us. There's so many playstyles out there right now, and we don't want to alienate any of the groups along the way." 

Blizzard says that players returning to an Eternal realm character will be able to jump straight into the expansion's storyline, while any new players joining for Vessel of Hatred will have the option of skipping the original campaign. Either way, game director Joe Shely teases that you may want to 🌄spend some time re-exploring Sanctuary once you open the gates to Nahantu. "There are many cases where, if you speak with characters after the events of the campaign have taken place, the interactions are actually different." 

"For example," Shely continues, "I was just in Kyovashad doing the side quest where there's an exorcism under the city. You know, I've completed that side-quest many times during development, but if you do it after defeating the campaign there's a different interaction there – the reaction of the church to Inarius and what's been going on. So the side-quest still plays out, but the context is different – the characters respond to that. It's been so cool to see the level of detail that our quest designers have put 🏅into the game, and we want to do a whole lot more of that." 

There's still a lot for us to learn about Diablo 4: Ves🍌sel of Hatred. It's going to be a long wait for its 'late 2024' release, but in the meantime there's plenty to keep us busy. The Midwinter Blight begins on December 12, a holiday event that will descend across Fractured Peaks. Season three is expected to launch in January, and with it comes a new weekly challenge dungeon called The Gauntlet – here, you'll be able to compete for class rankings against players across the world, with the best having their name cemented in the Seasonal Hall of the Ancients for all of time. 

Diablo 4 is in an exceptionally good place right now, and Vessel of Hatred will only build on that year one success as it lets us loose under the dense jungle canopy of Nahantu. In many ways, the expansion is a celebration of the legacy of the Diablo universe – a return of some beloved locations and characters from existing games. But really, it's a chance for Blizzard to conti꧂nue pushing the franchise forward in ways we can't even imagine. "Diablo 4 has come so far in such a short amount of time," says Calder, "but like we've always said: launch was just the beginning." 

Speaking to key creative leaders across Blizzard, the vibe is one of excitement with just a 💦hint of lingering trepidation. Spencer and other senior Xbox executives recently visited the Blizzard campus in Irvine, California, but it wasn't to talk business – rather the team wanted to meet with its new colleagues and play some Warcraft Rumble ahead of its launch on November 3. So, where does that leave Blizzard as it looks to 2024? 

"We all want to talk to Microsoft to see what other opportunities we can get, but we haven't had the chance to talk to them about all that yet," says Holly Longdale, executive producer and vice president for World of Warcraft. "But we're so excited by it. There's obviously a huge amount of potential to unlock things for𒁏 us even further."

The World of Warcraft

World of Warcraft has the most to gain from the acquisition. It may be one of the 澳洲幸运5开奖号码历史查询:best MMOs of all-time, and is set to celebrate a monumental 20th anniversary in 2024, but there's still so much potential for it to evolve and grow. At least, that's the view from Holly Longdale, executive producer and vice president at Blizzard who oversees World of Warcraft and World of Wa🐓rcraft Classic. "With the acquisition, ﷺwhen you have the opportunity to have a conversation with a company like Microsoft, you can imagine that there's probably a lot of really awesome opportunities there." 

Spencer says that "our commitment at Xbox is to bring more great games to more players in more places," and while he won't be drawn on questions surrounding World of Warcraft's release on Xbox or Game Pass, both would speak directly to his core philosophy of tearing down barriers to play. Longdale stresses that those conversations haven&apos🎶;t begun yet. The focus right now is on the Worldsoul Saga, comprising three new expansions which are being developed in parallel. Longdale thinks of The War Within, Midnight, and The Last Titan as a "foundation for our future" – a unified experience which can "stretch where we take World of Warcr🔯aft." 

Even with all that to consider, it hasn't stopped the World of Warcraft teams from starting to think about what comes next. "We talk about it all the time," Longdale laughs as I ask about the possibility of 澳洲幸运5开奖号码历史查询:World of Warcraft coming to console. "It would be very insincere to say that we're not, like… of course we're talking about that. We are Microsoft now." She believes that the WoW team is "pretty well positioned" to overcome the technical hurdles associated with bringing the MMO to Xbox, although it could be a while before we hear anything concrete. "Right now, we're focused on the Worldsoul Saga. But if that comes up then we'll reexamine things but, man, we've got enough to deal with right now." 

WoW Classic

The potential for a Game Pass release does also rꦚaise interesting questions about World of Warcraft Classic. The experience, perhaps best thought of as the original version of the MMO encased in amber, is currently available to all Warcraft players who hold an active subscription. Entrance into Game Pass could mean that Classic is exposed to an entirely new wave of players – not just people who may want to indulge in a little nostalgia for the past, but folks who have never played a second of World of Warcraft before. 

Game producer Linny Cooke believes that the game is better set to receive brand new players than you might expect, pointing to the success of WoW Classic Hardcore earlier this year. "It's actually been really interesting to see how popular Hardcore has been for both playing and streaming, and it's🐬 something that's actually gotten a lot of new players interested." This is reaffirmed by Tim Jones, with the assistant lead designer telling me that they have "data which shows there were actually a lot of people who had never played any version of Warcraft before come and try Hardcore out."

WoW Classic Hardcore was an interesting experiment for Blizzard. It presents a version of the original MMO where, if you die for any reason, you need to go create a new character to try again. It's a brutal setup, but one which has actually worked to create the feeling that many players experienced when they took their first trips into Azeroth back in 2004. "The focus of Hardcore is the leveling journey; there's no rush to the endgame because everyone iꦫs dying all the time. So the early zones are constantly populated with new 𒆙players," says Jones. "The capital cities and low-level zones feel more alive, and so you really get that MMO community feel in Hardcore." 

"Phil [Spencer] and Mike [Ybarra, Blizzard president] have been talking about this drive to make our games accessible to everyone, however they want to play. I think the future of WoW Classic is going to be super exciting, because Hardcore shows that it can be really interesting for new players," Jones adds. He does also make it clear that he's not been privy to any conversations surrounding Game Pass, and note❀s that he's "not really responsible for making those decisions" on questions surrounding Classic br🍒eaking out of the subscription to become a standalone product, but it is interesting all the same to see WoW Classic captivate an audience who weren't able to experience it the first time around. 

Diablo 4

Of all the titles in the Blizzard portfolio, it's likely that Diablo 4 will enjoy the easiest transition as Xbox steps up its involvement. Diablo general manager Rod Fergusson has worked for and collaborated with Microsoft for two decades. The game should make for a blockbuster entrant into Game Pass next year, which is when Spencer has teased that Activision Blizzard titles will join the subscription service. And speaking of Spencer, he used some of his precious stage time at BlizzCon to say: "I can't wait for you to see wh🔴at the team has planned for that game, it's going to be awesome." 

"You know, I love the fact that Phil Spencer is a Diablo 4 fan," says associate game director Brent Gibson. "Yeah," laughs game director Joe Shely, "it ♚certainly doesn't hurt." The pair are looking to the future of Diablo 4 with anticipation, with the studio committed to the release of quarterly seasons and premium annual expansions. It's demanding work, and w༺ork the leadership team believes can be better supported by the involvement of Microsoft. 

"We build elements of the game in parallel with each oᩚᩚᩚᩚᩚᩚ⁤⁤⁤⁤ᩚ⁤⁤⁤⁤ᩚ⁤⁤⁤⁤ᩚ𒀱ᩚᩚᩚther – we're developing these expansions in parallel with seasons," says Shely. "It takes a dedicated team to do that, and it's incredible to have Microsoft's support to do that. "Microsoft is very committed to Diablo 4, so we see a♈ bright future there." Gibson adds: "The opportunities for growing the Diablo franchise are huge, and we have a brilliant team that has a boundless amount of great ideas. What we are today isn't necessarily what we could be tomorrow, and that's a wonderful place to be."

The team is quick to note that something players shouldn't expect is for Xbox franchises to begin immediately invading Sanctuary. "We are always interested in collaborating, when it's something that feels right," says Gibson, pointing to recent Diablo 4 cosmetic skins inspired by ♔World of War⛦craft as a great example of cross-pollination. "The team is passionate about keeping the dark tone, making sure that things stay appropriate [...] So trying to keep things as true to the IP as possible is very important to us."

Overwatch 2

Less clear is how Microsoft may influence the future of Overwatch 2. The free-to-play competitive shooter is currently battling to regain its reputation after a challenging launch window, with its development team using BlizzCon to showcase wide changes to its competitive systems and promise that three new heroes are on the way. Jared Neuss, executive producer and vice president for Overwatch 2, says that "something we're really proud about is the f🐠act that we're taking risks and trying new things, and when you try new things some of them will work and some of them won&apos🎶;t. It's always challenging to hear feedback, but feedback is what makes us better and it's what makes the game better." 

While Neuss tells me that it's too early to get into the particulars of how Microsoft may shape Overwatch 2, something he is keen to lean on is feedback from other internal studios from within the Xbox Game Studios group. "Being able to tap into even more people who have experience in this space, who have tried different things and have learned different lessons, is something I'm personally very excited about," he says. "Just knowing that we have that many more people that we can reach out to and just ha🎐ve frank discussions with about the development process is super exciting to me because there's a lot that we can all learn from each other."

The relations💫hip between Blizzard and Microsoft is in its earliest days. There's a lot of important questions to be asked, problems to be solved, and decisions to be made – complexities to layer across an already packed release schedule. But the time being, Spencer maintains tওhat his "commitment at Xbox is to bring more great games to more players in more places." 

How that statement relates to the games Blizzard is creating remains t𓃲o be seen, but Spencer is certainly saying all the right things: "Now that Blizzard is part of Xbox, we will nurture the essence of what made Blizzard unique. We're going to empower our new colleagues in a culture of trust, inclusion, and collabora🌼tion to continue what they do best: redefining existing genres, creating never before seen experiences, and uniting players in new ways."

How that manifests through each of the core franchises is fascinating. For Warcraft, the development teams are promoting a philosophy of transparency as they look towards milestone anniversaries. The Diabl🅰o group is investing in continuous branches of iteration and evolution, working to lay the foundation for its future. Following a divisi🅰ve launch, the Overwatch division is taking risks and chasing fast feedback. 

In my conversations with key creative leaders across the company, the future presented is positive and 🧔pla🧸yer-centric. Blizzard says that it wants to give its communities more of what they want and faster, a somewhat radical departure for a company best known for moving slowly and secretively. "We are trying to pay more attention to what players want, and delivering on that more consistently," says Warcraft production designer Micheal Bybee. 

Investing in players

That initiative didn't begin at BlizzCon, but it was presented cleanly for all to see. World of Warcraft detailed its next three expansions, with Blizzard promising that the Worldsoul Saga will eschew the biennial release structure the MMO has rigidly followed since the 2008 release of Wrath of the Lich King. With Diablo 4, the team has committed to a challenging schedule of free quarterly seasons and premium annual expansions. 澳洲幸运5开奖号码历史查询:Overwatch 2 has already🍎 put forth its next three heroes, and outlined massive changes coming to its competitive ꦺsystems in 2024. 

A more visible outline♔ for the future means players should be more confident of what's coming next, a move which also works to quell disappointment that may be derived from an update failing to target your preferred style of play. Not interested in the Overwatch 2 tank arriving in Season 8? Damage and support heroes are coming soon after. Bybee points to the clear roadmaps the Warcraft team published in support of Dragonflight as a model for success. "I think it built a lot of trust. We said we were going to do something and then we pulled it off. Every time we l💫aunch a new patch, we immediately put the next one on the PTR. We're going to continue doing this. I feel really good about it." 

I'm told that this push for greater transparency is a key initiative throughout Blizzard. "We're all moving in the direction of being more open and more responsive; actually listening to players and giving them what they want as quickly as we can," says Jared Neuss, executive producer and vice president for Overwatch 2. "As a longtime player of Blizzard games, I've always wanted things to move a little faster – there's always that waiting period. But our communications are orders ♔of magnitude different than they were back in the day. We're trying to talk to players more frequently and informally." 

Neuss isn't the only member of senior Blizzard leadership who expresses a desire for "there to be a dialogue" with players, but nowhere is this better represented than with Diablo 4. Barely a week goeﷺs by w❀ithout the action-RPG shifting the balance of power within Sanctuary. The team is drawing from mountains of data to help make these calculations, but it isn't the only metric. "I can't stress this enough," begins Brent Gibson, associate game director for Diablo 4. "Your voices matter. They help us develop the game. We have a creative vision, which is great, but it's not as good as the feedback that we're seeing from our community – it's influencing a lot of our decisions moving forward." 

It's not just talk either. "Our patch notes for Seaꦕson of Blood were over 14,000 words long, because that is how much our community has influenced and will continue to influence the evolution of Sanctuary," says Diablo general manager Rod Fergusson. That ranges from small bug fixes to wider changes, such as decreasing the leveling journey to 100 by 40%. Gibson says it's the trust between development team and community that is empowering Blizzard to "start openly talking about things" like new featuresets in Season Three and the Vessel of Hatred expansion – "even though we might be a little vague🌞 from time to time when we do." 

Looking ahead

Blizzard is excited by the prospect of presenting wider visibility on what it is working towards, but such action necessitates trust. Players need to trust that Blizzard is in a position to deliver what it promises, and the teams need to trust that the players will be understanding should plans change throughout development. That's a challenge the Warcraft team will be acutely cognisant of as it works towards The War Within, Midnight, and The Last Titan. "Chris Metzen stands up there, he makes this 🐼big exciting announcement, outlines where wꦆe're going, and now we have to pay that off," says Gibson. "There's definitely pressure associated with that."

"In the past, when we announced an expansion like Battle for Azeroth, we already knew that we're working on Shadowlands next. So internally, it's not necessarily all that new – but now the players know what we know," says Sean McCann, senior game designer for World of Warcraft. He tells m🎶e that there are multiple benefits to clearer signposting. It builds stronger bonds with a highly-engaged community, allows for long-term iteration on new evergreen features through player feedbacಞk, and unlocks the ability to more forthrightly lay seeds for future story developments. 

But like Gibson says, there is pressure here – Blizzard has to get this three expansion run right, because if it needs to pivot at any point in the journey, it'll have to do so in full view of the playerbase. "It's an absolutely huge risk, but we owe it to our players," says Holly Longdale, executive producer and vice president for World of Warcraft. "This is a really unique and rare opportunity, and the constant feedback we are going to get will be incredible. This is the most fun I've had in this job for a really long time, because the journey is going to be so long lasting, and the players can see it." 

The 'Blizzard we are today' is a developer attempting to realign itself with its communities, a company-wide effort for greater communication and transparency. The 'Blizzard we are becoming' could well be dependent on Microsoft Gaming. The platform holder recently closed its $69 billion dollar acquisition of Activision Blizzard and there are a lot of unanswered questions going into 2024. But the mood across the portfolio appears genuinely positive, in both conversations I've had on and off the record with senior leadership. There's clearly a desire to better understand how each game will factor into 澳洲幸运5开奖号码历史查询:Xbox Game Pass next year, and what the workload may be like w꧃ith respect to reviving legacy titles for the subscription service. 

But on the whole, the leaders behind Diablo 4, Overwatch 2, and World of Warcraft are keen to see how the creative and financial backing of Microsoft will take these games to the next level – building off of what was put forward at BlizzCon as the world loo💝ks towards 2024. 

"Looking ahead to these next three expansions, we're going to take what we're learning and really invest it back in the game, and the team is pretty energized by that," says Longdale. "We have a lot of great support from Mike Ybarra, and we all want to🅰 talk to Microsoft to see what other opportunities we can gܫet. We haven't had the chance to talk to them about that yet, but we're so excited by it. There's a huge amount of potential to unlock things for us even further."

Sp💙eaking to GamesRadar+ in a new interview, Diablo 4 associate game director Brent Gibson addresses why older fan-favorite classes, like Paladin and Witch Doctor, won't be returning to Diablo 4 when Vessel of Hatred launches꧃ next year. "I think rewinding to what our goal was with the main game is important," Gibson says. 

"So we did a really good job at delivering five classic classes, the very specific power fantasies to those weꦿre really important – we wanted to get them right," the associate game director continued. "I feel like we did an amazing job at delivering those."

Gibson then reveals that when it came to planning Vessel of Hatred, the Diablo 4 development team found themselves at a "crossroads" - should they do the same thin🐽g again, or offer something new? "The team ta🍷lked about it a lot, and we really feel responsible to offer new ways to play, right?" Gibson continues. "So we've made the decision to go with something new. And so that that's kind of the heart of where we're at."

What 澳洲幸运5开奖号码历史查询:the expansion will offer is one brand new class, and Nahantu, a fan-favorite location returning from all the way back in Diablo 2. Considering 澳洲幸运5开奖号码历史查询:Diablo 4's Season 2 offered new Vampire powers last month, there's also the hope of new seasons potentially adding in something Paladin and Witch Doctor-like, which we'll have to keep our fingers cr💯ossed for.

Diablo 4's seasons will overlap with new expansions, so don't worry about Vessel of Hatred canceling out any seasonal content.

Delves have . Blizzard has designed this new endgame pillar as a complement to dungeons and raids for The World Within expansion, specifically targeted to solo players, those who may be short on time, and groups who are lacking in class depth. As I discussed Delves with senior game designer Sean McCann at BlizzCon, I let slip that my frien🌼d group always used to struggle to play together because we all rolled Fire Mages and nobody was willing to switch to an alt.  

"Ironically, that was the example we used when we were pitching internally," he laughs. "If you have five Fire Mages, you can run a Delve. I'm not even joking. So I would say that if you know five Fire Mages𝓰, then you can go ahead and dꦫo a Delve. We'll absolutely let you do it." 

Friend groups obsessed with the damage numbers given off by Pyroblast aside, Delves also serve a few other essential corners of the playerba🎶se. McCann tells me that Delves have been shaped by "all the learnings" the team has accrued from developing from Torghast, Islands, Garrisons, and Scenarios over the years. Ultimately, the 12 launch Delves are being positioned as another way for you to stay connected to World of Warcraft. "If you have ever logged on and felt like there's just nothing for you to do, here's a new option." 

Production designer Michael Bybee also notes that Delves are a great option if you're trying to juggle playtime with parenting – given that m♏ost can be completed in around 15 minutes – or if you're trying to bring a group together which spans multiple skill levels. "The challenge of trying to find the perfect group that likes the right challenge at the same time, who is actually ready to play, is hard – I think Delves is going to be really good for that." 

"You know, my dad and my son play World of Warcraft. My dad is getting a little older, and he's doing like Mythic +2 runs; meanwhile my son is dragging us through Mythic +20 and we can barely keep up. The fact is, it's hard for us to all play togetheꦓr because there's such a skill gap there," Bybee continues. "Having Delves in the game will give us a little more flexibility in how and when we can choose to play together, and I think it's a really exciting thing to have."

The other big breakout feature from World of Warcraft: The War Within? That would be Warbands. And no, you're not alone, even WoW's production director is excited about cross-character transmog.

For months, so Aspec𓄧ts can be added there, rather than💜 having their inventory overflowing with the things. Thankfully the devs are now looking to grant players the ability to use the Codex to organise Aspects, though the details are still a little vague.

"We wanted to improve the whole foundation of the game, from the ground up, as much as we could," they say. Inventory management is a giant part of the game, and being able to stash Aspects somewhere all together (in the most logical place for them) is something that's going to improve the game&apos♏;s quality of life tenfold.

As commenters on one note, "I've been hoping they'd do this since the game came out lol. It just makes too much bloody sense 💮to use the thing MEANT TO SORT ASPECTS to hold them instead of letting them all overflow your inventory and trainwreck your stash." That's TheoriesOfEverything's two-cents in the comments ✃section, anyway.

Though the devs didn't mention exactly how the rolls will work (whether it will contain the lowest, max, or latest added aspect rꩲolls), people in the comments guess it probably just works by clicking "an aspect and you have﷽ all your codexed options plus the minimum roll if you can get it from a dungeon. Though I'm sure they'll come up with a more complex way and slowly work to the logical way."

Sadly♐ this feature won't be available until some time after Seasꦬon 3, but at least we can say it's something that's being worked on.

"For the endgame chase items, they're supposed to be really really awesome and cool… they're just not hitting the mark a lot of the time," they made clear dꩵuring the presentation.

"Too often, players don't feel good when they drop and really🎃 what is an alarm bell for me personally, is that when there'🐠s a unique for your build and it's intended to be good for that build (say like a fireball unique for a fireball sorcerer) and then the fireball sorcerer doesn't even want that.

"We don&🦄apos;t want that situation to happen, whether it's because the unique effect isn't good enough, or the stats on the gear aren't good enoug▨h."

There's a fourfold strategy to the fixes, and it goes like this: Adding new stats such as "increased tornado duration" to Uniques; giving larger existing stat ranges; overriding slot rules such as allow𓆏ing a Unique to roll on Cooldown Reduction; and updating unique effects that add to player power.

"This is how we're going to b🌸e looking at making Uniques, uh, unique g⭕oing forward."

Of course, a "giant pass" like this - with updates to almost every Unique in the gaꩵme - i💟s big and could make players a little nervous over their current build.

In order to alleviate fears over such massive changes, the devs want to make sure transparency is at the heart, ♍so everyone can be on the same page when dolling out feedback.

"Something that is really important to me and the team is that when we're talking to you about the updates we're doing to the game, that you understand why we're making these change and what our goals are, because you're gonna see as we go through all these, we're changing a lot of🌳 all the 🦹underlying math and other systems of the game work. And the odds are high that we don't nail everything perfectly.

"But if you understand what we're trying to do, and we're more transparent about that, then when you're having discussions with each other and when you're giving feedback to us, they can just be🍰 a little bit more high level, and better sources of information when you also understand why we're doing things."

Kayleigh Calder tells me that it wasn't necessarily the plan to bring Malignant powers back into Diablo 4, although the lead game producer says that the team is always on the lookout for ways toꦆ double-down on elements that resonate with the community. "When we're building a new season, we're looking at the things coming in that are going to remain eternal – different Aspects and Uniques, for example – and the things that are going to go away," says Calder. "But the Malignant Rings are a good example of something where players really resonated with a number of the Malignant powers, and we're always looking for opportunities to bring the things that players really enjoy back."

There's one Malignant Ring for each class, and they are going to become a permanent fixture of the meta. Calder confirms that "they're not just there for the Season Two update", with Associate game director Brent Gibson adding that the Uniques will "live forever inside of the ecosystem" – making them something you equip to characters in the Eternal and Seasonal realms moving forward, and even carry with you inꦑto the new Diablo 4: Vessel of Hatred expansion next year. 

Because Malignant Rings are here to stay, Blizzard has had to rework the essence of the powers – versus how you may have found them in the Season of the Malignant, at least. "We had to do another pass on them to balance the rings out 💙with all the current Uniques that we have," says Calder, "so they'll be further adding to the kit and the fantasy of each class." 

Rogues will receive th💜e Writhing Band of Trickery, where casting a Subterfuge Skill leaves behind a decoy trap that continuously Taunts and lures enemies. Sorcerers who🧔 equip Tal Rasha's Iridescent Loop will improve their DPS output for all Elemental damage dealt. The Barbarian's Ring of Red Furor will greatly improve critical strike and bonus critical strike damage, while Airidah's Inexorable Will can draw in and deal damage to enemies whenever a Druid casts an Ultimate skill. Finally, Necromancers can equip the Ring of the Sacrilegious Soul, which will automatically activates Raise Skeleton, Corpse Explosion, and Corpse Tendrils on any corpse around you.

So, will this be the standard moving forward? Where a new mechanic is introduced at the outset of a season, removed at its conclusion, and then adapted in some form for the Eternal realm in the future? "This doesn't 💜mean we're bringing something back every season," Calder clarifies. "It comes down🏅 to watching what players are engaging with, what the team really gets involved with, and what the feedback is like." 

Improving upon the foundational design of an experience set to celebrate its 20th anniversary in 2024 isn't easy – lord knows that Blizzard Entertainment has iterated and 🎃evolved World of Warcraft plenty in that time. Perhaps that's why something like Warbands has quickly enraptured legacy and lapsed players alike. An idea so good it's actually a little outrageous that we haven't received it already. 

Speaking to Michael Bybee at 澳洲幸运5开奖号码历史查询:BlizzCon 2023, the executive produc💮er for World of Warcraft: Tꦡhe War Within – the opening chapter of the Wondersoul Saga, set to launch next year – he tells me that he doesn't just understand the enthusiasm from the community, he's right there with them. "I'm excited about transmog across characters. That's probably the thing I'm most excited about – followed by the shared Bank, which is incredible." 

Warband is an account-wide alt system which is designed to expand the potential of your created characters – easing friction of expanding your presence across Azeroth. When Warbands arrives in the 2024 expansion, it means that all of the characters registered to your Battle.net account will be able to more easily share in common achievements – allowing you to share Warbank Bank access, War Within Renown, Collections, Reputation, Transmog, and more between all your characters. It's a big change, and one which Bybee says is ওa big "value shift" for Warcraft as we look to its future. 

"A lot of times when we roll out ღa feature, we're like: 'This is a feature and it's a whole new thing, and here's the package of it.' But the way I think about Warbands is that it's more of a value shift. We're communicating to players that, in the past, it was all about a single character on a realm, but with Warbands and some of the other changes we&apo🌠s;re making, we're removing barriers and committing to a set of features for the future." 

Blizzard is being unusually transparent with the future of World of Warcraft, outlining the shape of the next three expansions. The key for the community, Bybee explains, is that by knowing the future direction of the franchise means that you should better trust that features like Warbands will be supported (and improved upon) for years to come. "That value shift is, I think, the most important thing. Because it means that players will understand that, as we continu🐽e to do stuff in the future, that this is going to continue to be a thing. That ⛎we as a team are saying that this is how we want World of Warcraft to work in the future, and that is exciting." 

During 澳洲幸运5开奖号码历史查询:BlizzCon 2023, 澳洲幸运5开奖号码历史查询:Overwatch 2 executive producer Jared Neuss told me  that the opportunity to work alongside the talented teams at 澳洲幸运5开奖号码历史查询:Xbox Game Studios is "super exciting". Microsoft has a wealth of internal FPS talent, from the Halo teams at 343 Industries to the shepherds of the Wolfenstein and Doom franchises in MachineGames and id Software, there's arguably no better place for Overwatch 2 to be as it continues to battle back from a divisive launch – read our original 澳洲幸运5开奖号码历史查询:Overwatch 2 review for more on that one.

Speaking to the potential of collaboration, Neuss reflected on his own history – having worked on shooters like Halo 5: Guardians and 澳洲幸运5开奖号码历史查询:Destiny 2 in the past – as he teased out f𝓡uture opportunities. "As a person who worked on Halo at Microsoft,𒅌 one of my favorite things is how the experience that I and other members of the team are able to bring to our development process on Overwatch 2. And being able to tap into even more people who have experience in this space, who have tried different things and have learned different lessons, is something I'm personally very excited about." 

Neuss is keen to stress that "what form that takes is obviously not something we're talking about" just yet, but does give some hint towards how the Overwatch 2 team can iterate and evolve its ideas, and how it can help other Xbox teams do the🔜 same. "Just knowing that we have that many more people that we can reach out to and just have frank discussions with🎶 about the development process is super exciting to me because there's a lot that we can all learn from each other." 

Something we learned about Overwatch 2 today is that it's far too early to count the free-to-play shooter out just yet. The development team is teasing out big changes to competitive play, a raft of incoming quality-of-life improvements, and the arrival of a brand new hero this December who already looks like an utter delight. 

There's still plenty more to come from Overwatch 2 this weekend too, with a deep dive into the next season still on the 澳洲幸运5开奖号码历史查询:BlizzCon 2023 schedule. And we'll have more from our great conversati🎃on with Neuss live on GamesRadar+ in the coming days. 

My biggest hope is that we get an initial reveal of Blizzard's secret survival game, and some sort of blowout celebration in view of an impending anniversary for one of the 澳洲幸运5开奖号码历史查询:best MMOs of all-time. You'll find thoughts on all that and more below in our BlizzCon 2023 preview. The show is set to begin on November 3, and you will want to check the full 澳洲幸运5开奖号码历史查询:BlizzCon 2023 schedule for details on all of the panels and talks. I'll be on the ground in Anaheim, California so be sure to keep an eye on GamesRadar+ for the latest surrounding the future of 澳洲幸运5开奖号码历史查询:Diablo 4, 澳洲幸运5开奖号码历史查询:Overwatch 2, World of Warcraft, and plenty more.

A new World of Warcraft expansion will be unveiled

There are two near universal truths when it comes to World of Warcraft: expansions release every two years, and they are typically revealed at BlizzCon. Dragonflight took flight in November 2022, which means it is exceptionally likely that BlizzCon 2023 will be heavily geared towards new continents, races, and content streams. World of Warcraft is set to celebrate its 20th anniversary next year (alongside the 30th anniversary of the wider franchise) so expect there to be some nostalgic undertones to the presentation too – especially now that series co൩-creator Chris Metzen has emerged from retirement to take on an executive creative director role overseeing the Warcraft universe. 

There will be a new Overwatch 2 hero

It's been little over 12 months since the launch of Overwatch 2 and Blizzard Entertainment is still battling to regain some composure. The free-to-play shooter hasn't quite found its foot🏅ing and the publisher will be looking towards BlizzCon 2023 to reset the agenda. You should expect the introduction of a new Overwatch𝓡 2 hero to be unveiled at the Opening Ceremony, with further details on Season Eight and changes to competitive play to follow on November 4. I'd also expect to see some wide revisions to the foundational design teased, particularly as many of the largest alterations between Overwatch and its sequel continue to be divisive for the wider community.  

We'll get an update on the Blizzard survival game

Back in the beginning of 2022, Blizzard revealed that it's working on a brand 🧜new IP. A survival game set in an open world fantasy universe, with concept art detailing a more natural and colorful world than those we've seen out of Diablo, Starcraft, and Warcraft. There's been little information since, with only little hints derived from job listings. While a 2024 launch seems ambitious for this new AAA survival game for PC and console, Blizzard has been known to get ideas out in front of the public early. Looking at the 澳洲幸运5开奖号码历史查询:BlizzCon 2023 schedule, there are no panels for Codename: Odyssey in place๊, but that doesn't mean that a teaser trailer is out🎶 of the question for the opening ceremony. 

Diablo 4 Season 3 will be teased

The seasonal model hasn't proven to be as universally popular as the base Diablo 4 campaign, but I wouldn't expect Blizzard to return to the core storyline just yet. As desperate as I am to pick up Neyrelle's trail, it feels a little early for Blizzard to announce a full Diablo 4 expansion. Instead🐬, I expect the creative team to dive into some of the lessons it has learned through the first few weeks of Season of Blood, and detail the ongoing attempts to increase loot generation without disrupting wider game balance. With Season Three expected to launch in January 2024, we might get a tease, although I expect the D4 sessions to be light on announcements. 

World of Warcraft: Classic will be a wildcard

World of Warcraft: Classic is at a fascinating crossroads. When the title launched in 2019, it recreated the original game experience and gradually expanded to include two of the best WoW expansions. For a great many players, this is the best possible version of World of Warcraft preserved in amber. So, where does Blizzard take Classic now? Technically, Cataclysm should be up next, but that's the expansion that began to fracture the playerbase back in 2010, so its inclusion feels somewhat perilous. There's an outside shot that Blizzard decides to do something wild with Classic, all-new content that's built in the spirit of Burning Crusade and Wrath of the Lich King. WoW: Classic is 💧one to watch at BlizzCon 2023. 

There won't be any Xbox announcements

With Blizzard now officially part of the 澳洲幸运5开奖号码历史查询:Xbox Game Studios portfolio there's some anticipation around what could be said at BlizzCon 2023. Top of the wishlist is surely World of Warcraft for Xbox Series X, or the release of legacy Diablo, Starcraft, and Warcraft titles into 澳洲幸运5开奖号码历史查询:Game Pass for Xbox and PC. Xbox executives have already gone on record to say that there won't be significant Activision Blizzard entrants into the subscription service until next year, and I'd imagine that it's far too early for any major initiatives to be announced surrounding the key titles. It's more likely that Xbox head Phil Spencer will appear on stage to talk up his love of Blizzard Entertainment, all while concealing a Blackthorne shirt beneath his blazer to drive a litt𒉰le internet speculation. 

Whether the BlizzCon 2023 schedule is used to unveil surprises, or tease out any collaborations with the wider 澳洲幸运5开奖号码历史查询:Xbox Game Studios portfolio following the Activision Blizzard acquisition, remains to be seen. For now, it looks like World of Warcraft will return to a position of prominence. Below you'll find information on how you can watch BlizzCon 2023 online, as well a🌳s more detail on the full BlizzCon 2023 broadcasting schedule. 

BlizzCon 2023 schedule

Blizzard has confirmed the BlizzCon 2023 schedule, which will broadcast in-person and virtually on November 3 and November 4. The publisher has set dedicated panels for its biggest active titles, with World of Warcraft set to lead events following the Opening Ceremony with sessions on WoW Classic, Diablo 4, Hearthstone, and 澳洲幸运5开奖号码历史查询:Overwatch 2 to follow. The first day also closes with a celeb⛄ration of Warcraft Rumble, the new mobile action strategy game꧃ that is set to undergo its worldwide launch on November 3.  

Friday, November 3

• Opening Ceremony – 11AM PT / 2PM ET / 6PM GMT
• World of Warcraft: What's Next – 1:30PM PT / 4:30PM ET / 8:30PM GMT
• Overwatch 2: Deep Dive – 2:30PM / 5:30PM ET / 9:30PM GMT
• WoW Classic: What's Next – 3:30PM PT / 6:30PM ET / 10:30PM GMT
• Hearthstone: What's Next – 4:30PM PT / 7:30PM ET / 11:30PM GMT
• Warcraft Rumblings – 5:30PM PT / 8:30PM ET / 12:30AM GMT

Saturday, November 4

• World of Warcraft: Deep Dive – 12PM PT / 3PM ET / 7PM GMT
• Overwatch 2: What's Next – 1:30PM PT / 4:30PM ET / 8:30PM GMT
• Diablo 4: Campfire Chat – 2:30PM PT / 5:30PM ET / 9:30PM GMT
• Community Night – 4:45PM PT / 7:45PM ET / 11:45PM GMT
• LE SSERAFIM Appearance – 6:15PM PT / 9:15PM ET / 1:15AM GMT

How to watch BlizzCon 2023

You can watch BlizzCon 2023 live from the comfort of your home without a Virtual Ticket. The entireꦕ show is being streamed for free on or channels, although you&a൩pos;ll need to be logged into your account to access the broadcast on the latter due to some age-restricted content. If you miss any of the panels, you can also watch VOD replays at your leisure. 

BlizzCon 2023 Everything announced

Blizzard had a smattering of announcements at the BlizzCon 2023 opening ceremony. Chief among them was three expansions for World of Warcraft, with the Worldsoul Saga set to commence in 2024. There was also word on new Overwatch 2 heroes, the first expansion to Diablo 4, and plenty more. To get caught up on everything announced, check out our 澳洲幸运5开奖号码历史查询:BlizzCon 2023 live coverage. 

BlizzCon 2023 dates

Blizzard has set the BlizzCon 2023 dates, confirming that the celebratio﷽n will run between November 3 and November 4, 2023. Across the two days, the studio will host a number of pan▨els around the Diablo, Overwatch, and Warcraft franchises which can be viewed online for free, as well as in-person events just for in-person attendees. 

BlizzCon 2023 location

The BlizzCon 2023 location is the Anaheim Convention Center in Anaheim, California. This is the first in-person BlizzCon in four years, following the virtual presentations that were used throughout the COVID-19 pandemic. Attendees can e🀅xpect updates on Blizzard's key titles, as well as immersive art installations celebrating each of the franchises.

BlizzCon 2023 tickets

There are two types of BlizzCon 2023 tickets. . General Admission costs $299 which includes access to all halls, ex𝓡clusive in-game items, and a limited edition BlizzCon backpack. The Portal Pass costs $799, bundling in the General Admission content along with access to an exclusive Portal Pass lounge, early entry, and separate security and registration lines. 

BlizzCon 2023 virtual ticket

There won't be a BlizzCon 2023 vi𓃲rtual ticket. If you aren't able to attend in-person, the entire event will be live-streamed free of charge across November 3 and November 4, and available as video-on-demand after it's all said and done. We have details on the BlizzCon 2023 rewards available below, which replace the in-game items that typically came attached to the virtual ticket in previous years. 

BlizzCon 2023 rewards

The BlizzCon 2023 rewards package takes the form of BlizzCon Collections. If you aren't able to make it to the event in-person, Blizzard is releasing two limited-time collections which include d💙igital rewards and in-game items for the likes of World of Warcraft, Diablo 4, Overwatch 2, and more. Purchasing the BlizzCon Collection will also give you a 10% BlizzCon Gear Store discount. If you're attending the event in-person, all ticket t💞iers include a BlizzCon Collection Legendary Pack. 

– $29.99 / £25.99

• World of Warcraft: new Ysergle pet and the Chilling Celebration Banner toy
• Diablo 4: the ferocious Lapisvein mount, the Cobalt Ensign mount trophy, and the Demon-Mother Countenance mount trophy
• Overwatch 2: 1,000 credits, a Murky weapon charm, and a mystery name card
• Hearthstone: a BlizzCon 2023 cardback plus 5 standard packs and 5 golden standard packs
• Warcraft Rumble: the Murloc Kobold portrait and skin

– $49.99 / £42.99

• Everything included in the Epic Pack, plus:
• World of Warcraft: the Bound Blizzard flying mount
• Diablo 4: the fearsome Midnight Harness armor for your mount and a Premium Battle Pass redeemable for any one season
• Overwatch 2: the Drowned Warrior Sigma Epic skin as well as a Season 7 Premium Battle Pass
• Hearthstone: a mystery signature legendary card
• Warcraft Rumble: the Murloc Tower skin

BlizzCon 2023 predictions

My 澳洲幸运5开奖号码历史查询:BlizzCon 2023 predictions are that Blizzard Entertainment will use the returning live event to take a bit of a victory lap. Expect updates on Diablo, Overwatch, and Warcraft to lead celebrations, with an outside chance that we'll receive information surrounding the new Blizzard survival game or any type of collaboration with the wider 澳洲幸运5开奖号码历史查询:Xbox Game Studios portfolio following the acquisition. 

Blizzard's shooter sequel might've first launched on all systems last year, but it was only ever available on Battle.net via PC - until now. Yesterday, August 10, saw the launch of Overwatch 2, and uඣser reviews so far really haven't been kind to Blizzard's sequel.

There's a staggering 25,576 user reviews of O🌠verwatch 2 right now on Steam, and the aggregate is coming in at 'Overwhelmingly Negative.' Reading through the user reviews is wince-inducing, due to players lashing out at the development team at Blizzard, and the state of the game itself. 

🐠"Overwatch 2 has no respect for you, it's an attempt to pry open your wallet while masquerading as the game it used to be," reads one of the top recent Steam user reviews. "The people who make Overwatch porn work harder than the people wh💛o make Overwatch," reads another scathing review.

"They should make a sequel that includes the whole PvE experience we were promised with skill trees and call it Overwatch 2," reads another review. This comment taps into the frustration from the Overwatch 2 player base 澳洲幸运5开奖号码历史查询:surrounding the canceled ꧟'Hero Mode,' in othꦛer words, the promised story mode that was going to make Overwatch 2 arguably stand apart 𝐆from its predecessor.

The user reviews on Steam prove that Overwatch 2 players are still very much hurting over the canceled Hero Mode. What remains in the wake of the canceled mode is smaller PvE missions and activities, 澳洲幸运5开奖号码历史查询:but these have unfortunately bee☂n paywalled, leading to🧸 another outcry from the Blizzard player base. 

Overwatch 2 players are also agitated over in-game balances of certain characters. GamesRadar+ recently 澳洲幸运5开奖号码历史查询:spoke to Overwatch 2 director 𒐪Aaron Keller about this situജation, and the director reassured players that a team at Blizzard meets weekly to discuss balance issues, although he added that it's "easy from the outside to look in and put this narrativ🅷e on it."

Overwatch 2 players are angry with Blizzard, there's no doubt about it. After the new round of PvE activities, which are out now as part of the 'Invasion' event in Overwatch, there🎉 won't 𒁃be any more PvE content until 2024, as the next few sea✤s💫onal events won't be offering any of the solo missions. 

You can check out our 澳洲幸运5开奖号码历史查询:best online games guide if you're looking for something else to sink your time into. 

Over the weekend,ꩵ oodles of fans took to social media to of a certain quest. To some, "Folk Hero: A Smile Better Suits" is a fairly standard name for a mission, though not to Final Fantasy 14 fans. 

"There's no running fr⛦om the critically acclaimed MMORPG is there?" One warrior of light . Another , "Final Fantasy 14 reference in my Baldur’s Gate – everywhere I look there is no escape". 

You get the idea. 

For the benefit of my editor – and maybe you! – there’s a scene in Fin🌞al Fantasy 14 Heavens🌳ward expansion that consistently nails fans in the feels when they come across it. In it, a character called Haurchefant takes a fatal blow in your spread, telling you not to despair as, yes, a "smile better suits a hero." It happened around eight years ago, and I’m still sad about it.

Given that Baldur’s Gate 3 has peaked at 814,666 concurrent players on Steaꦏm alone, it was only a matter of time until someone from Final Fantasy 14’s orbit saw it. As an aside, you can check out our 🉐澳洲幸运5开奖号码历史查询:Baldur's Gate 3 review in progress at the link. 

The Haurchefant reference is far from the first time we’ve seen the critically acclaimed MMO appear in another game, either. The Sims 4 is 澳洲幸运5开奖号码历史查询:currently leading the charge on that front, with various nods appearing differing🌊 expansion. There’s even a reference to Final Fantasy 14’s constantly mentioned "return to waking sands" text in World of Warcraft’s , which is quite wholesome as FF14’s Naoki Yoshida is seldom shy to share his admiration of Blizzard.

If you're interested, 澳洲幸运5开奖号码历史查询:Final Fantasy 14 Dawntrail kicks off the MMO's next 10-year adventure in 2024.

In a post over on the , user ChornLane argues that Path of Exile's complexity is what is putting off fans of Blizzard's action-RPG. "If Diablo 4 had as many features as PoE, most of its playerbase wou💜ld quit," they write. The player goes on to describe their own experience of Path of Exile,✤ saying, "By the time I get to maps, my stash and inventory is filled with so many baubles and curios that I simply get overwhelmed. I look one of them up and see that I need three other pieces that require other pieces to access those pieces."

This is echoed by another player in a comparing the two games. "PoE looks fun to me, but after trying to play it several times over the years and watching hours of YouTube content, I still don't know what the actual fuck I'm supposed to be ﷽doing at any point in that game". Similarly, user quozy1990 says that, despite several attempts, they can't get into Path of Exile. "I am hoping PoE2 lowers the entry barrier in some way," they write, adding, "If they succeꦿed in doing that I can imagine a lot of Diablo players will go to PoE."

Path of Exile's elaborate nature isn't the only thing holding Diablo 4 fans back. "Watching 5 min of POE gameplay has convinced me Blizz made the right decision with the mini-map," says one user on the . "The overla💟y looks terrible and covers most of the screen. You can barely see what's going on."

Of course, there are also many who greatly admire what Grinding Gear Games is doing with🉐 Path of Exile 2 and wish that Diablo 4 would follow suit. "Even if I'm not necessarily looking for the same depth as POE 2 on Diablo 4, is it possible to have a game of such quality?" user fixmeforall writes in . "Is it possible to have real seasons? With lots of new features? And the possibility of playing any build in a pleasant and reliable way?"

While Path of Exile 2 may not be winning over the Diablo 4 crowd at present, it might have a shot at FromSoftware's fanbase. In an interview, director Jonathan Rogers revealed that the sequel will go in an "Elden𒀰 Ring sort of direction" ༺rather than the "MMO path" of Diablo 4. 

For more action-RPG goodness, check out these 澳洲幸运5开奖号码历史查询:games like Diablo.

As you’ll see from the clip below, two World of Warcraft pla⛦yers duke it out in text chat to earn a piece of raid loot that’s dropped from the Trial of the Grand Crusader. After a fair bit of back and forth, one goes as high as bidding three million gold before the other finally passes. The ring itself is solid, though not something anyone would shell out around $13,000 for if you’re looking at how much gold that WoW Tokens converts to at the time of writing.

It's a fairly innocent idea in theory, as you ca🅺n earn gold for just helping out or guarantee getting an item you fancy if it drops. The issue arises when you consider how gold can be obtained. You can grind all the best farm spots for gold until sunrise, though doing that 🅰alone will seldom lead to you having three million gold spare. Rather, you're likely looking at real-money trading or WoW Tokens to get that kind of change.

RMT is nothing new to Azeroth, though WoW Tokens have sparked plenty of chatter among Classic fans since they were introduced earlier this year. If you've been out of t𝐆he loop, a WoW Token can be officially purchased for real money and used to acquire game time, or be sold in the Auction House. Pﷺeople don't like it and were happy to see it excluded from WoW Classic until Blizzard introduced it earlier this year.

"The best way to start is to simply say that this wasn't something we arrived at lightly," Blizzard wrote in a , addressing a tidal wave of negative community sentiment. "For the entirety of Classic so far, the WoW Classi𝕴c team has been very resistant to the idea of adding WoW Token to any form of Classic in the Western regions (NA and EU). 

"When🔯 WoW Classic started in 2019, adding something like a token felt unimaginable to us, and that 🌺continued to be true for us – even late into Burning Crusade Classic – for a few reasons."

Blizzard went on to share that gold scarcity is key to the Vanilla WoW experience, and was something it wanted to maintain until it could no longer, as the team could not "cause the demand for gold to be lower" in the Wrath era. RMT ꧃is "an arms race" that "never, ever ends," and WoW Tokens is but one of the ways Blizzard believes it can mitigate the impact. 

The move to inc🅰lude the controversial item has since opened WoW Classic up further to the volatile nature of the Auction House. While the real-money cost of a WoW Token is fairly static, how much gold you'll get for one at the in-game marketplace is constantly in flux. As Wowhead earlier this year, the WꦑoW Token hit a two-year high regarding gold value, despite the IRL cash cost staying the same.

While you can ha💜ppily play WoW Classic without engaging in GDKP runs, the bidding flex-off has fans debating what’s to blame. Some point to the controversial r💫eintroduction of WoW Tokens that happened only months ago, whereas that with the belief that having three million to burn on a fairly unspectacular ring can only mean RMT.

Whether or not we should even be allowing GDKP runs is another debate. One group of fans argue that it , with the presence of RMT and WoW Tokens being an unfortunate reality we’re all dealing with anyway. The counter to tha༺t is with how GDKP runs are inspiring a flex culture that further pushes others towards RMT and WoW Tokens, rather than what can⭕ simply be accomplished through playing the MMO.

If there is one thing that players seem to agree upon, though, is that the WoW Classic community has royally screwed the economy of the Wrath of the Lich Kin🍃g Classic servers.

Meanwhile, the World of Warcraft community is creating fake characters to fool AI websites farming them for content.

That&apo൩s;s according to provided by publisher Activision, marki♔ng their financial results for the end of the second quarter of the 2023 financial year. Activision writes that over 10 million players "experienced" Diablo 4 during its launch month in June, which is admittedly a very odd way to phrase it.

Does that mean that all the 10 million people who "experienced" Diablo 4 in June didn't actually buy the new game? There isn't a subscription service like Xbox Game Pass by which💞 you can play the new game without putting down $70, so the phrasing here from the publisher makes very little sense.

The trouble is, very few of Diablo 4's players are happy right now. Blizzard announced a hefty new patch yesterday, on July 18, and it's basically decimated multiple builds, including kicking the lowly Sorcerer while they're🥀 down, and tearing apart some ofಞ the most successful Barbarian builds around.

Activision also writes that "retention trends for the title are particularly strong," and we're about to see just how strong that retention is. 澳洲幸运5开奖号码历史查询:Diablo 4 Season 1 goes live tomorrow on July 20, bringing with it a whole heap of new content like brand new story quests to undertake, Dungeons to delve into, and even a 澳洲幸运5开奖号码历史查询:new seventh Uber Unique item to track down and acquire.

A 澳洲幸运5开奖号码历史查ꦐ询:second Uber bossℱ is on the way as well as in the debut season, in case Uber Lili🐲th wasn't tough enough for you already.

You can head over to our 澳洲幸运5开奖号码历史查询:Diablo 4 Battle Pass guide for a look at how another key feature in the new season will launch.

Blizzard dropped the 澳洲幸运5开奖号码历史查询:Diablo 4 Season 1 patch notes last night, ahead of Season of the Malignant starting tomorrow. While there are a fair few things that fans h🍬ave taken an exception to – such as nerfs to the already-weak ♔Sorceror – the general theme of the changes is that Blizzard is and then some. If there's a build that made you feel powerful, especially one focusing on Vulnerable enemies and crit damage, chances are it no longer offers you that power fantasy.

The mood around Diablo 4 i𝄹s leading some fans to compare the patch to previous Blizzard games, which also saw and 'the fun' nerfed. 

"WoW has had bad changes after bad changes, layers upon layers of them," one fan . "No QoL changeꦇs to raiding - you still need to walk back 10 minutes if you wipe on a boss. Endgame is purely Mythic+ (nightmare dungeons) whether you like it or not. Mythic+ affixes are still absolute dogshit to play around and you're rolling the dice on whether you're fucked or giga-fucked depending on your class + the affix of the week. 

"Dragonflight makes positive strides but it still barely scratched the surface of why the game feels awful to play and is a waste of your time. The g🧜ame is way too difficult not in a good way because Blizzard thinks the MDI is the end-all-be-🐭all of all WoW balancing. Most of the community moved on to FF14, Genshin, and or just moved on with their lives."

The ꦅsame player also references Overwatch, saying it was "great at first" though derailed by metas around characters lik𒈔e Mercy and Brigitte that took way too long to address. 

"Cherry on ⛄top? The loy🅷al people who remained in Overwatch got slapped in the face with Blizzard announcing they are cancelling PvE," they add.

Another : "Somehow, Blizzard decides to double down and take a stab at th♐e few things that make the game fun! I&apos𓆏;ve never seen such a large patch dedicated to nerfs - across the board! This is madness."

"This is all about their bottom line and an attempt to have us play the game longer. Mobs can't stay alive like they used to if they nerf cooldown reductio꧅n by 30%. Players can't stay alive like they used to if they gut a vital aspect🉐 like Disobedience. Blizzard used to be about the player experience - and providing the best game possible. Diablo IV is a far cry from D2, Warcraft 3, Vanilla WoW, and StarCraft I and II."

Other players are drawing upon experiences from games beyond that Blizzard has m๊ade, such as Destiny – itself no stranger to accusations of nerfing the funꦬ.

"I played World of Warcraft from Vanilla until Shadowlands. I played Destiny from the Destiny 1 beta all the way until the most recent expansion. I (unfortunately) played several years of both Leagueܫ of Legends and Dota 2. Suffice to say, I'm no stranger to updates that end up making a game feel worse," one .

"Never, in any of my years with any of those games, have I seen a patch as baffling as this one. I was on the 'D4 is a bit barebones, but has a great foundationꦗ for future content' train. I, naively, hoped that the first season would show how Blizzard can keep the formula fresh by introducing new aspects, new uniques, and balance changes that would in turn would encourage interesting new builds. I figured even if they missed the mark, that wo♏uld at least be their goal. Don't I feel like a fool."

The mood, then, is far from stellar in Camp Diablo. The fallout has led Blizzard to announce an impromptu developer stream to talk through some of the rationale for the ♊c✤hanges. It's far from the first time we've seen a game take a few🌃 goes of class tinkering to get things right, though if Diablo 3 offers any hope🌟, it's that D4 should get there eventually.

Here's everything we know about 澳洲幸运5开奖号码历史查询:Diablo 4 season 1, from seasonal content to release times.

On June 17, Adam Fletcher, Diablo 4's community manager, took to Twitter to clear up any confusion about the upcoming 澳洲幸运5开奖号码历史查询:Diablo 4 battle pass. "People that purchased [Diablo 4] Digital Deluxe and Ultimate Editions of the game receive one Premium Battle Pass unlock," Fౠletcher explains, "you will be able to activate it via the Battle Pass menu after you start a seasonal character."

Further clarifying the situation, Fletcher also revealed th༒at those who fall into that category can claim the premium battle pass for season 1 - which is set to go live the same day as the battle pass on July 20 - or can keep hold of it for a future season. Diablo 4 players also took this as an opportunity to ask further questions about the upcoming battle pass. 

As revealed in the to Fletcher's tweet, if you purchased multiple deluxe editions of Diablo 4 (eg: one for con𒁏sole and one for PC) you'll actually get two Premium Battle Pass unlocks which could be used in both season 1 and a future season later down the line. Fletcher also revealed in a to someone else's tweet that the release times for season 1 will be revealed "in the coming days," so keep an eye out for that. 

Don't worry if you didn't purchase one of these versions of the game though, as you can still get your hands on the Premium Battle Pa𓆏ss - it'll just cost you 1,000 Platinum ($9.99 / £8.39). There's also the Accelerated Battle Pass - which Diablo 4 Ultimate Edition players will already have access to - which can also be purchased for 2,800 Platinum ($24.99/£20.99).

If you were hoping to try out Blizzard's MMO thanks to Xbox, we've got some bad news - Diablo 4 still isn't coming to Xbox Game Pass.

The sound advice comes from a Blizzard held this week to dive deep into Season Of The Malignant, gathering multiple developers to talk about the upcoming season’s new content, enemies, and mechanics. One hot topic focused on how 澳洲幸运5开奖号码历史查询:plaꩲyer🥀s will need to create new characters to participate in any given season. That controversial requirement means that you can’t use pre-e🍰xisting characters to play through the new quests, for example. 

Diablo’s general manager Rod Fergusson explained that the rule lets newcomers jump into the game with🌌out feeling left behind, and also means lapsed players can rejoin the game after an extended break. “Seasons allow us to have a fresh start for everybody,” said Fergusson, “and makes sure players have a starting point together,” whether they’ve been playing for a year or an hour. 

“💮When you’ve reached all the goals and done the things you think are important, take a break,” said associate game director Joseph Piepiora, “we do the same.” He continued to explain that “a great time to come back” to the game is when a new season launches “and there’s new things to come check out… that’s exactly when you should come back and check out Diablo 4 fresh.”

“I’ll be honest,” said another developer on the panel, “when the next [World Of Warcraft] expansion comes out, there’s a non-zero chance that I’m gonna be playing [that] for a while. But it’s great to know there’s a point that I can come back to Diablo 4 and everyone’s on an even footing.” You can take your 澳洲幸运5开奖号码历史查询:new character back to the base game (the eternal realm) 𝓰at the end of the season, thank𒀰fully. 

Season Of The Malignant kicks off on July 20th, so your break spent playing other games is about to be cut short. Find out 澳洲幸运5开奖号码历史查询:everything wꦫe kno🧸w about Diablo 4’s first season to prepare.

Looking for something to play in between Diablo 4 seasons? Check out the 澳洲幸运5开奖号码历史查询:upcoming PC games of 2023 and beyond.

How to claim Prime Gaming rewards in Diablo 4

To claim the Diablo 4 Prime Gaming rewards, you needed to visit the and then look for the Di✨ablo 4 section, which will have a "Claim" button against it. You could hi🅺t that Claim button, or go directly to the , then once you're logged into your Amazon account you'd be taken through the process to collect your reward. This involved connecting your Blizzard Entertainment Battle.net account to Prime Gaming if you hadn't already done it, so the items could be delivered to you in-game.

What were the Diablo 4 Prime Gaming rewards?

The last Diablo 4 Prime Gaming rewards to be released consisted of the Death's Burden Bundle Mount cosmetics. Once claimed, they were automatically added to the Stable in each of the major cities, so you could apply them to your 澳洲幸运5开奖号码历史查询:Diablo 4 horse by talking to the Stablemaster. Within this bundle you got access to the Bonemail mount armor, Morgan's Cage trophy, and Mort trophy, so there were multiple combinations you could use to ♛customize your mount.

The Death's Burden Bundle Mount items were available as Prime Gaming rewards in Diablo 4 until January 18, 2024, after which they were removed from the Amazon site and no fresh reward was made available to be claimed in its place, so for now at least this hasꦆ been discontinued.

© GamesRadar+. Not to be reproduced without permission.

Earlier today on June 6, on the veryꦗ day that Diablo 4 launches in full around the world, Blizzard announced it was officially the fastest-selling Blizzard game of all time. In just four days, Diablo 4 has grossed the "highest pre-launch unit sales ever on both console and PC."

Diablo 4 has been played for a grand total of 93 million hours, Blizzard boasts in the new announcement. However, the company isn't actually saying how many copies Diablo 4 has sold around the wღorld on all platforms, so we're sort of left in the dark as to the finer details of this achievement.

Additionally, it's hard to gauge Diablo 4 against other Blizzard game launches, because Diablo 4 is being sold at a premium price, unlike other games like Overwatch 2. In fact, one could argue Blizzard&aꦦpos;s last pre꧟mium launch like Diablo 4 would have been the original Overwatch, and that game launched all the way back in 2016.

Still, this doesn't discount Diablo 4 as an absolute smash-hit success for Blizzard, in just four days since it launched into early access last week. Glowing reviews from outlets around the world have no doubt bolstered sales of Blizzard's game (and you can read our 澳洲幸运5开奖号码历史查询:Diablo 4 review for more on that), as has strong woꦅrd of mouth from early access players.

Check out our guide on 澳洲幸运5开奖号码历史查询:how to level up fast in Diablo 4 if you're looking to get a leg-up on the competition and your friends in Blizzard's historic game.

has announced his achievement on Twitter, linking to a Twitch of the big final🦹e, including the all-important #Diablo4Hardcore tag, and thanking his team for their support. Global Diablo community development director Adam Fletcher has to the tweet, seemingly 🍷affirming cArn's win. 

This team notably includes Nugiyen, Zizaran, and Steelmage, who are respectively ranked second, third, and fourth on the hardcore leaderboard at the time of writing, according to . And yes, they immediat🔯ely got back to grinding after cArn's big moment. At this rate, the odds are good the whole squad will sit at the top of the leaderboard. 

This group, and obviously cArn especially, have managed something of an upset in Diab⛎lo 4's higher-stakes world-first level 100 race. For days, many Diablo 4 fans expected acclaimed streamer to win the race, as he had a hefty lead over the competition around the level 50 mark. However, Wudijo is now ranked sixth, a notch above popular FPS streamer Shroud. 

That being said, Wꦓudijo is notably a solo hardcore player, whereas cArn and the gang were able to farm more efficiently playing in a group. In other w🐈ords, the solo race is still on, and Wudijo is still looking like a favorite. 

cArn was previously known for Dota and Starcraft 2 wins, but has more recent🌼ly topped several Path of Exile races. Unsurprisingly, those action-RPG skills were clearly transferable here, as was the same unhealthy sleep schedule. Hopefully these gamers can get some rest soon. 

One hardcore player was devastated to lose their run to a glitch that locked their movement during a boss fight. 

The first tease of the League of Legends MMO came in 2018, but it was two years before the project would be officially confirmed. Greg 'Ghostcrawler' Street, an acclaimed World of Warcraft developer, was in the driving seat, and while it was clear the project was in its very early stages, there was a lot of faith in Riot. 澳洲幸运5开奖号码历史查询:Its world is ready-made for an MMO, and the company has been quietly ab𒐪sorbing a lot of former Blizzard talent into its ranks, the prestige of both studios and their relative proximity to one another making it easy for developers to make the jump.

But it didn't take long before the cracks started to show. Just months after the official confirmation, Street himself suggested that he wasn't sure the game would ever ship, stressing nothing was ever certain in game development. At that point, he said that progress on the project was "going great", but that there was always a chance that the current team wasn't the right one to make the game. Barely six months after that, Street said that Riot would cancel the game if it wasn't good enough, noting, at least, that money wouldn't really be a factor in that decision. There was something refreshing about Street transparency around the realities of game development, but these weren't exactly the project updates I was♋ looking for.

Then, just over four months later, Street announced that he was leaving Riot altogether. Citing personal issues, Street departed after nine years, telling fans that "the MMO is in good hands".  Six weeks after that, however, one of those sets of hand🎐s made their own departure – Justin 'Xenogenic' Hanson, principal game designer on the MMO, announced his own last day at Riot in April. The company, it seemed, was hemorrhaging important staff at a relatively alarming rate. 

MMO MIA

Two significant departures from the same project in quick succession was certainly a blow, but in a company of thousands, some amount of turnover is a near-certainty, however unfortunate the timing might be. Capping off that awkward few months was the announcement that Riot's CEO, Nicolo Laurent, was stepping down from his role. Laurent – who has led the company through the lows of its sexua🐈l harassment cases as well as its notable expansions into new games, indie publishing, and acclaimed multimedia efforts – will have been an important part of the decision to develop the MMO in the first place.

His replacement as CEO, company president A. Dylan Jadeja, is unlikely to burn Laurent's legacy to the ground, but hꩲis message is strangely reminiscent of aspects of things Street has said about the MMO: "The goal [...] is to make Riot, unequivocally, the most trusted and authentic game🍌 company in the world. The kind of place where people know that everything they play and experience from Riot will be amazing."

Any ch🅘ange in leadership, however benevolent, is likely to༺ take stock of what they think is – or is not – working. MMOs are notoriously difficult to make, and a project recently robbed of two of its most senior developers, one which has never been seen by any member of the public, could easily find itself on the chopping block. I hope that doesn't happen, but games industry projects get canceled all the time, and the future of this one is far from certain.

For something you can actually play right now, here's our list of the 澳洲幸运5开奖号码历史查询:best MMORPG you can play in 2023.

Speaking to PCGamer in the latest issue of its magazine (), Blizzard's senior manage🐭r of lore Sean Copeland explains that, before 2005, the developer didn'🎃t really keep tabs on the internal history of its games. As such, there wasn't much documentation about the world the first two Diablo games painted, leading to a brutal catch-up task.

While Blജizzard clearly goes to great lengths these days to keep lore chronicled, the odd retconning isn't off the table. Diablo 1 flows into its sequel quite neatly - felling the titular beast in Diablo 1 leads the hero you play to 💛becoming corrupted in Diablo 2, making them the villain. The third game, however, makes some changes as that same hero becomes Prince Aidan, who is the eldest son of a King that Diablo ensnared to kick off the events of the original game.

"What I've found when it comes to creative sessions is the word no, or being 'lore police, as it were, usually doesn't help the creative process," Copeland says. "We want to make sure that we give [writers] the suggestions to make their story work, because at the end of the day, we🦩're all trying to tell cool stories."

If you f💮ancy reading about the history of Diablo in full, you can✃ catch the latest issue of PCGamer.

Recently, one 澳洲幸运5开奖号码历史查询:Diablo 4 dev explained how they draw the line on builds 澳洲幸运5开奖号码历史查询:getting too overpowered.

"Being loud about it because I've lost yet another person this week," WoW producer Adam 'Glaxigrav' says on . "Blizzard is losing amazing talent because someone in p൩ower doesn'🌳t listen to the game directors who make his products. DE&I also means diversity of thought, especially when it's backed by data and financials."

Earlier this year, Activision Blizzard announced that employees would soon be required to return to the office for at least three days a week, a move that met with a quick, vocal backlash from employees on social med🐟ia. The company partially backtracked on its plans t♎o relax COVID-19 v🌞accine mandates in response to employee backlash earl𝕴ier this month, but Blizzard employees are to be forced b♏ack to the office in July.

By many accounts, 澳洲幸运5开奖号码历史查询:Dragonflight ⭕was the🍬 best WoW expansion in years, and Glaxigrav says that the prospects for future expansions are diminishing with these departures. "I just want to make video games. I want to make amazing best sellers that are critically acclaimed. I want to make better Dragonflights. I want to make better experiences. Can't do that if we get rid o💝f everyone who made ꧂it."

Glaxigrav says the talent bleed has gotten to the point where the studio is "creating crisis maps of what we can or cannot ship. THAT is the loss of capacity we’re fa💝cing. I literally have a schedule I strike out as people hand in notice."

A Blizzard representative tells that the aforementioned 'crisis maps' are "not a team practice for WoW. However, making decisions around priorities, iterating, an🍒d ensuring quality are everyday parts of game development."

Another W🌼oW developer, senior game designer Allison Steele, "forced [return to office] has cost us some amazing people and will continue to cost us more in the coming months," calling it a "terrible, shortsighted, self-destructive policy that is only weakening our ability to deliver the kind of game we want to make and our players deserve."

As Activision Blizzard's return-to-office policy courted controversy earlier this year, Bungie was happy to note how it delivered Destiny 2's best season ever "entirely remotely."

Diablo 4 release dates and times

The Diablo 4 release dates and times for those who have preo🎶rdered the standard version of the 🎃game are as follows:

• 4:00pm PDT, 5th June (Pacific Coast)
• 7:00pm EDT, 5th June (East Coast)
• 12:00am BST, 6th June (UK)
• 1:00am CEST, 6th June (Europe)
• 8:00am KST, 6th June (Korea)

澳洲幸运5开奖号码历史查询:Diablo 4 preloads are now live, so even if you're wai๊ting for the full launch you can get the ꧒download done early.

Early Access release dates and times

For those who ha💞ve preordered the Early Access version of Diablo 4, they can expect to play the game at th💃e follow time and dates:

• 4:00pm PDT, 1st June (Pacific Coast)
• 7:00pm EDT, 1st June (East Coast)
• 12:00am BST, 2nd June (UK)
• 1:00am CEST, 2nd June (Europe)
• 8:00am KST, 2nd June (Korea)

Players can get the Early Access version of Diablo 4 if they preorder either the Ultimate or Deluxe editions of the game - a💟t time of writing, thereཧ is no other way to obtain access to the game early.

© GamesRadar+. Not to be reproduced without permission

Will there be another Diablo 4 open beta?

Yes, there will be another Diablo 4 open beta, as Blizzard have confirmed a final Server Slam session from Friday May 12 to Sunday May 14, 2023. This will offer up players another chance to try the game out in advance of its release in early June, while also providing Blizzard data on server limitations, technical issues, and various other data about the game's functionality. The last beta generated a lot of interest and many wanted another one before the full release, so it's not clear if this is for a more technical study for the developers or just a bone thrown to the fans – possibly both.

After that, assuming another beta isn't announced, the earliest time you can play Diablo 4 again will be on June 2, 2023, if you pre-order the Digital Deluxe or Ultimate Edition of the game, otherwise you can purchase and play the Standard Edition from June 6.

© GamesRadar+. Not to be reproduced without permission.

How to download the Diablo 4 beta on PC

If you qualified foꦓr the Early Access beta, then you'll have already been sent instructions for how to download the🔯 Diablo 4 beta on PC along with your access code. However, if you're looking for the Open Beta then this is where you get it:

• Open your Battle.net client
• Find Diablo 4 at the top of the list on the All Games page
• Open the Diablo 4 Game Page
• Open the 'Game Version' dropdown and select 'Diablo 4 - Beta'
• Click the blue Install button

You can then click Play to launch the Diablo 4 beta once it's available. Note that if you've already installed the Early Access beta then you can also use that for the Open Beta, so no further download is required. Don't forget that 澳洲幸运5开奖号码历史查询:Diablo 4 crossplay is available during the beta as well as in the full game, so you can team up with any console owning friends🌱.

How to download the Diablo 4 beta on PlayStation and Xbox

As with PC, if you were part of the Early Access beta then you'll already have received a code to redeem on your console store, along with instructions for how to download the Diablo 4 beta on PlayStation or Xbox. If you don't have that access, then here&ap🉐os;s how to find the Open Beta:

• Open the PlayStation or Xbox Store
• Search for 'Diablo 4 Open Beta'
• Select the beta from the results
• Hit the Download button

Once you've downloaded the Diablo 4 beta on PlayStation or Xbox, you may see a countdown against it confirming 澳洲幸运5开奖号码历史查询:when is the Diablo 4 beta start time, and you may not be able to launch it – or receive an eജrror message if you try to access it before the Open Beta period. Again, if you previously installed the Early Access beta then that will also run the Open Beta, so no further download is needed.

© GamesRadar+. Not to be reproduced without permission.

I say distant because it's going to take some time for the gears to start turning. Eventually, you should expect to see franchises like Call of Duty, Candy Crush, Diablo, World of Warcraft, and others join the 澳洲幸运5开奖号码历史查询:Xbox Game Pass fold – just not immediately. 

Below you'll find our Xbox Activision deal explainer, which we will continue to keep updated as more information comes as the deal closu🐲re details aꦛre released. 

The basics

When did Xbox buy Activision?

News of the Xbox Activision deal first surfaced on January 18, 2022. Naturally, this is just the first step in a lengthy process for approval, with both the US Federal Trade Commission (FTC) and the European Commission (EC) formally filing complaints to block the acquisition due to concerns surrounding competition in the market. Even without investigations, these massive deals can often take some time to complete: When Microsoft announced its intention to acquire ZeniMax Media in September 2020, it took a further six months before the likes of Arkane Studios and Bethesda Softworks could b𝔍e officially welcomed into the Microsoft Gaming fold. Xbox has said that it is targeting a June 2023 closure date for its $68.7 billion acquisition of Activision Blizzard. 

How much was the Xbox Activision Deal?

Microsoft has said it will buy Activision Blizzard for $95 dollars a share, in an all-cash transaction valued at $68.7 billion. This would be the 澳洲幸运5开奖号码历史查询:most ex💖p🍨ensive video game acquisitions in the industry's history, dwarfing the $8.1 million that Microsoft paid for ZeniMax Media in 2021 and the massive $12.7 billion that Take-Two Interactive paid to acquire Zynga last year. As for why Xbox paid so much for Activision, there's a number of factors. Activision Blizzard is a global business, with studios positioned all over the world and with nearly 10,000 employees on its books. That's certܫainly a factor in the valuation,  alongside Activision's massive share in the mobile market and its ownership of some of the v⭕ideo game industry's most popular and long-lasting franchises. 

Why did Xbox buy Activision? 

There are a variety of factors at play when trying to understand why Microsoft would want to buy Activision. The most obvious is that it gives the Xbox division access (and creative control) to some of the video game industry's most enduring IP – Call of Duty, Candy Crush, Crash Bandicoot, Diablo, Overwatch, Spyro the Dragon, StarCraft, World of Warcraft, and so the list goes on. Not only would Microsoft Gaming profit from new entries to these franchises, but it would be able to use legacy games to significantly bolster the 澳洲幸运5开奖号码历史查询:Xbox Game Pass games list. Activision Blizzard "nearly 400 million monthly active players in 190 countries and three billion-dollar franchises" across its console, PC, and mobile divisions, which would significantly bolster the growth of 澳洲幸运5开奖号码历史查询:Game Pass, Xbox's investment in Clou🤡d Gaming technology, and Microsoft's ability to compete with Sony and Nintendo. 

The details

When are Activision games coming to Xbox?

Many Activision games are already on Xbox, because Activision is a third-party publisher. That means that it produces games regardless of platform, as opposed to first-party publishers (Microsoft, Sony, and Nintendo), who produce games for their specific ecosystems (Xbox, PlayStation, and Switch, 🅠respectively).

For example, every Call of Duty game comes to Xbox, as have other notable Activision games; recently, that includes the likes of the Spyro Reignited Trilogy, Tony Hawk's Pro Skater 1+2, and Crash Bandicoot 4. Blizzard games are also released on Xbox; Overwatch 2 launched into early access on Xbox Series X and Xbox One, while 澳洲幸运5开奖号码历史查询:Diablo 4 is also coming to both consoles later this year.

If the deal goes through, future Activision Blizzard games will continue to be available on Xbox – and day and date through Game Pass – but it remains to be seen if their availability on Sony consoles will be impacted. Activision-Blizzard would become a first-party company within Microsoft, meaning that it would primarily be producing games for the wider Xbox ecosy📖stem. Microsoft has♛ made a years-long commitment to keeping several of Activision-Blizzard's games on other platforms, but it's likely that eventually, those games will be exclusive to Xbox,PC, and Microsoft's Game Pass and Cloud Gaming services.

Will dormant Activision franchises return?

Activision was founded in 1979, and has a wealth of IP and legacy titles locked away in its vault. With Xbox in control of the portfolio, there's every chance that some older (or long-dormant) franchises could make a return, which is something Microsoft Gaming CEO Phil Spencer 澳洲幸运5开🌊奖号码历史查询:has claimed is a "pretty exci🗹ting" prospect. Naturally, we all have our dream series revivals, and we have already made a wishlist of Activision Blizzard franch🧔ises꧑ we want to see reborn at Xbox. 

When will Activision games come to Game Pass?

There are already hundreds of video games available as part of the full 澳洲幸运5开奖号码历史查询:Xbox Game Pass games list, and that's expected to grow following the completion of the deal. However, there is no timeline for how long that may take. When Microsoft acquired ZeniMax Media, for 20 of the biggest Bethesda games to join the service – and more have joined since. Microsoft has said that it expects franchises like🦋 Call of Duty, Overwatch, and Diablo to join Xb♔ox Game Pass eventually, although the arrival of Call of Duty 澳洲幸运5开奖号码历史查询:may 🅰be delayed by "a number of years" due to ongoing negotiations with Sony. While you wait for those, here's our pick of the 澳洲幸运5开奖号码历史查询:best Xbox Game Pass games to play today.

What the publishers have said

What has Microsoft said? 

Microsoft has maintained that the goal is making Activision Blizzard's catalog more accessible. While Game Pass will be stronger with Call of Duty, World of Warcr𝔉aft, and Diablo included, Spencer noted as far back as Microsoft's that "Activision Blizzard games are enjoyed on a variety of platforms". As such, the plan is "to continue to support those communities moving forward൲".

A question of competitive  fairness within the gaming market has also arisen, with Microsoft previously adding 澳洲幸运5开奖号码历史查询:the likes of Bethesda to its ranks. To that, the company has poin♑ted out that, should the deal go through, Microsoft would be the third-largest gaming company revenue, behind Tencent and Sony.

What has Sony said? 

Sony doesn't appear convinced Microsoft's pledges to keep games like Call of Duty readily available are genuine. As various international regulators scrutinize the deal, we've seen 澳洲幸运5开奖号码历史查询:plenty of back and forth between the pair. For example, throughout the 澳洲幸运5开奖号码历史查询:UK's investigation into the agreement, Microsoft accused t🤪he competition regulator of relying on Sony's objections, namely "misplaced" conc💃erns over Call of Duty. 

In a statement to , a Sony spokesperson reiterated that the deal was "bad for competition, bad for the gaming industry, and bad for gamers themselves". "This deal would give Mic🐓rosoft's Xbox ecosystem a unique combination of tech and content, and hence a dominant position in gaming, with devastating consequences for consumers, independent developers, and Sony itself," they said. 

More broadly, a lot of concern stems from Call of Duty's continued availability. Sony reportedly said that Micros♋oft isn't offering parity, with the Xbox creator that a 10-year deal has been put up. The importance of the series to gaming has also been a c🌃onstant, with Sony playing it up while Microsoft plays it down.

What has Nintendo said?

Nintendo has been largely silent on the Xbox Activision deal. While Sony and Microsoft continue to trade words and legal filings, the Switch manufacturer has been holding conversations behind-closed-doors. Microsoft president Brad Smith has confirmed that the pair have signed a "binding 10-year contract to bring 澳洲幸运5开奖号码历史查询:Xbox games to Nintendo's♚ gamers, should the deal close. This would of course include Call of Duty – the franchise has appeared on Nintendo consoles in the 🦂past, although not for a long while; a Wii U port of Call of Duty: Ghosts arrived in 2013. 

What has Valve said?

Despite being offered a similar deal to Nintendo, Valve president Gabe Newell has said that it "wasn't necessary" as he's okay with the storefront's current relationship with Activision over Call of Duty and Microsoft. "We're happy that Microsoft wants to continue using Steam to reach customers with Call of Duty when their Activision acquisition closes," he told in a statement." Microsoft has been on Steam for a long time and we take it as a signal that they are happy with gamers' reception to thaꦫt and the work we are doing. Our job is to keep building valuable features for not only Microsoft but all Steam customers and partners."

The CMA decision

In April 2023, the UK's Competition and Markets Authority blocked the deal in its home country, citing Microsoft's strength in cloud gaming. Microsoft has suggested ꦜthat it might be fꦍorced to cease trading in the UK if the decision – which it is appealing – is upheld. 

The FTC Trial

In the final weeks of June, Microsoft went to trial against the US Federal Trade Commission's injunction against the closure of its deal. The trial aimed to determine whether the deal could be finalized before its July 18 deadline. Microsoft claimed that if it lost, it could potentially lead to years of litigation 澳洲幸运5开奖号码历史查询:that might kill the merger.

Over the course of the trial, many senior figures, including PlayStation's Jim Ryan, Activision's Bobby Kotick, Xbox heads Phil Spencer and Sarah Bond, and Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella, were questioned, offering detailed information ⛦about the current state of the games industry. It's been hard to sift through that flood of info, but here are some of the standout headlines:

• Microsoft's CEO doesn't like console exclusives
•  The Last of Us Part 2 and Horizon Forbidden West both cost more than $200 million to develop 
• PlayStation boss claims publishers "do not like Game Pass" 
• Sony expected Starfield and The Elder Scrolls 6 to launch on PlayStation, but noted that the 澳洲幸运5开奖号码历史查询:exclusivity isn't anti-competitive. 
• And it was potential PlayStation exclusivity for Starfield that kicked off Microsoft's purchase of Bethesda. 
• Microsoft thinks the PS6 and next Xbox will launch in 2028, and knows 澳洲幸运5开奖号码历史查询:Xbox lost the console wars 

So, what happens next?

Whether Xbox's acquisition o♊f Activision Blizzard completes remains unknown. Microsoft will need to wait for the U.S. Federal Trade Commission, European Commission, UK Competition and Markets Authority to complete its investigations, while there are ongoing legal challe🤡nges in various states in the United States which may need to be resolved. 

As it stands, Microsoft will continue to make its case,﷽ and everybody else will continue to argue their positions until the last. The deal is expected to close, one way or the other, by the end of Spring 2023. So we will of course keep you up to date on any new information as we receive it. 

Looking for more on the Xbox Activision deal? Here's our look into what Microsoft's latest acquisition could mean for Activision Blizzard and Xbox Game Studios.

spoke to several sources familiar with a recent internal Q&A led by Ybarra, in which the president reportedly downplayed a cut made to staff bonuses despite strong quarterly profits for the company, defended the employee stack-ranking system which contributed to the controversial firing of a WoW Classic lead just last month, and pushed the new RTO policy in a way some staff interpreted as an ultimatum suggesting they should simply leave if they 𝓡don't want to go back to the office. 

Many, many Blizzard employees have since taken to social media criticizing the mandatory return to office, which is a genuine surprise as such matters are usually handled almost entirely internally. Senior writer 𒁏and narrative designer Justin Groot it as a "wildly unpopular policy" which could drive many em💞ployees to leave the company. 

"So many people have left during my time on the team that I can't even sign the Kudoboards any more," he said, referring to digital group cards sometimes sent to departing colleagues. "I hate the very sight of an email with 'Kudob꧋ard' in the title field."

"It&apos🍨;s frustrating that leadership doesn't underst༒and what a challenge it's been to pick up the pieces," he said in another tweet. "And now it seems like we're going to have another round of departures."

Dylan Snyder, senior game designer on the Overwatch 2 te🌌am, bluntly : "I've been in the in🤡dustry for nearly 10 years and have never, ever been as embarrassed by leadership figures as I am at this moment." 

"I believe Blizzard and specifically Activision leadership are making a huge mistake with their recent RTO policy," he said in an earlier . "To then follow that up by shorting people in regard to their compensation, following the most lucrative quarter in the company's history, is unacceptable. The studio has made and released some of its strongest work while remote. It also allowed the room for people t♕o start fighting for the culture of this place to change for the better. There is zero justifiable reason not to continue allowing that flexibility."

Snyder's posts are filled with replies from other Blizzard staffers airing similar disappointments, and they're far f🦋rom the only employees or game developers saying the same. The replies to the latest from Ybarra are overflowing with such sentiments, as well as some more colorful ones, for example. 

These comments echo broader discussions that have played out across the games industry in the wake of such a strict RTO push from a publisher of ABK's size. Game devs at countless studios have spoken out on the value and importance of remote opportunities. The work and policies of Bungie, which was formerly published under Activision and has since remotely developed Destiny 2's best-selling expansion and arguably the game's most popular season, frames a particularly stark comparison. 

A source closeꦛ to Blizzard, who requested confidentiality, told GamesRadar+: "Those of us who aren’t as impacted financially by living close to the office, and who can live somewhat comfortably, we will always be upset, concerned, and fighting for our associates and peers that don’t have the wiggle room that we have. Many of our beloved peers don’t have the opportunities that we do." 

Indeed, posts from other Blizzard employees have commented on the limitations that will come with in-office work. Some said they may not have been able to even secure their current jobs if this RTO policy had been in place when they were hired. Commuting and potentially relocating are major impositions, and another Blizzard employee also commented on the exacerbated challenge that childcare will pose to working parents. Blizzard seemingly hasn't committe⭕d to increased support, financial or otherwise, to offset the expenses and constraints that returning to the office will invariably cause many employees.

If Microsoft's $69 billion play to buy Activision Blizzard fails, embattled CEO Bobby Kotick will reportedly stay on at the company. 

As reported earlier ꧅today on November 29 by ModernWarzone on Twitter, it was claimed that players were receiving in-game unlocks that they shouldn&a🧔pos;t have access to in both Warzone 2 and Modern Warfare 2. The Twitter account claimed players were getting hold of weapon skins, weapon attachments, and even Operator bundles via the in-game store for free.

However, this has since turned out to not be the case at all. Responding to a follower just a few hours later, ModernWarzone clarified that yes, the original claim was just a "." Call of Duty pl༒ayers aren't in any such luck 🅷for unlocking items they shouldn't have access to after all.

To suggest Call of Duty developer Infinity Ward would accidentally hand out in-store purchases for free was quite the ploy. Just earlier this month, publisher Activision Blizzard announced Call of D🍰uty: Modern Warfare 2 had successfully grossed over $1 billion in record time for the franchise at large. 

Considering Call of Duty's status as Activision's Blizzard's cash cow (or one of many, depending on how you view 澳洲幸运5开奖号码历史查询:Overwatch 2 and World of Warcraft), keeping store i💎tems out of the hands of players who aren't willing to pony up the cash for said purchases is𝕴 no doubt top priority for publisher and developer alike.

For more on the latest battle royale spin-off, check out 澳洲幸运5开奖号码历史查询:Warzone 2 Nuke guide for how to earn the incredibly tricky Champion's Domination victory. 

The good news is that Dragonflight releases universally simultaneously, so you don’t have to worry about players on different servers getting the new expansion a day earlier than you. The way 🦂unlock times are being handled means that you may have to get up ear🎃ly in the morning to play from the word go, depending on where you play, though it’s an option you can choose to take. 

You caܫn find a below if that’s how you prefer your unlock times served up. If you find yourself squinting at the screen, though, then we’ve provided a clear rundown on each WoW Dragonflight release time further below to ensure you know when it unlocks in your timezone and on what day – as we have explainඣed, the time is universal, so time and day vary depending where you hang your hat.

WoW Dragonflight release time

• November 28
  • 3pm PST
  • 6pm EST
  • 8pm BRT
  • 11pm GMT
• November 29
  • 12am CET
  • 2am TRT
  • 3am GST
  • 7am CST
  • 8am KST
  • 10am AEST

Dragonflight takes you to a new area called the Dragon Isles, offering a fresh start from Shadowlands, as all World of Warcraft expansions tend to do. Alongside the typical offering of new areas, raid content, and story, you’re also getting a new Dragon-based class called the Dracthyr Evoker, 𒁏which comes with unique flying mechanics. 

Don’t worry if you’re wed to your current class, though, as dragon mounts offer the same thrill. As ever, you can pick up the base edition of the expansion or the heroic or epic editions if you fancy extra goodies like a level boost or an early flying mount. Early access to the Dracthyr Evoker is also on offer across all the editions, though we’re so close to the Dragonflight release time it’s not quite a♐s early as it once was🍎. 

Looking to level up quickly? This World of Warcraft player broke the level max world record in just three hours thanks to the Dragonflight pre-patch, and explained exactly how they did it. 

Content creator Harldan explains on YouTube that they decided to revisit an old levelling guide due to the changes Dragonflight makes to Chromie Time. If you’ve be💃en out of the loop, the feature was introduced in Shadowlands and allows you to grind a new character from level 10 to 50 in whatever expansion you fancy. In Dragonflight, you can level all the way to level 60, though it’s required some from Blizzard🅷.

Happily, while putting together a new levelling guide, Harldan has hit level 60 i🎐n what they describe as record time at 3 hours and 21 minutes. You can see how they did it below or in a written post on , with multiple routes provided to account for Horde or Alliance alignment. 

If you’re not playing an allied race, you’ll need to reach level 10 first, though that proves to be a doddle with the Exile’s Reach starting zone, which is creat♔ed to get new players acquainted with the MMO swiftly. Once you’ve done that, you’ll want to speak to Chromie and play the Legion Questline until you unlock the Dalaran Hearthstone. The quests you’ll need to play differ from here on out depending on your allegiance, so we recommend following Harldan’s guide to keep you right. 

World of Warcraft’s level cap raises to 70 with the release of Dragonflight, so this is a nifty way to ensure you’re at level cap before then. Or, instead, you can 澳洲幸运5开奖号码历史查询:create a Dracthyr and enjoy the wealth of cust𒆙omisation options available, like most WoW fans are doing right now.

Meanwhile, Blizzard is un-gendering character creation in World of Warcraft: Dragonflight. 

You can get a handful of Overwatch Coins, the game's real-money currency, by doing weekly challenges. There are diminishing returns on those challenges, but doing all 11 every week will get you a total of 60 Overwatch Coins. That's the equivalent of $0.60. Yes, 60 US cents. The battle pass is $10, and 澳洲幸运5开奖号码历史查询:many skins are $20. It's a l🌠ong, long grind to get anything from playing tওhe game.

The exact math on how much you can earn in WoW i☂s beyond the scope of this story - and varies wildly depending on your time investment - but there are big chunks of the playerbase that pay their subscription fees exclusively through 𓆏in-game gold. That's $15 a month through gameplay, which isn't a lot, but it is substantially better than the $2.40 you'd get from four weeks of completing challenges in Overwatch 2.

World of Warcraft players spend their gold on the auction house for WoW Tokens, which you can redeem either for 30 days of game time or $15 for your Battle.net account. That means you can indirectly spend WoW gold for items in pretty much any Blizzard game, including Overwatch 2 - a fact that's turned 𒊎into a bit of a .

It's not exactly a fair comparison, given that Overwatch 2 is completely free-to-play and World of Warcraft still requires a monthly subscription, plus expansion purchases to keep up with the current content. With that in mind, it's not so weird that WoW gives a little extra back to its players. The comparison starts to measure up a little closer when you cons👍ider that even the paid Overwat🔴ch 2 battle pass doesn't offer any coins back to players, however.

The real dark secret, of course, is that if you're treating these games as jobs, you'll find them miserable as both games and jobs - $15 a month doesn't quite reach the US minimum wage, after all. But it does 🍌highlight just how poorly-received Overwatch 2's monetization has been.

Overwatch 2's Halloween event has similarly been disappointing on the pricing front, but it does paint a good picture for PvE.

The best RPGs tend to also tell some of the very 澳洲幸运5开奖号码历史查询:best game stories, with many also introducing a cast of memorable companions, engaging questlines, combat progression systems, and choices with consequences that let you shape your own journey. In fact, many of these ingredients share some crossover with the 澳洲幸运5开奖号码历史查询:best MMORPGs, the 澳洲幸运5开奖号码历史查询:best JRPGs, and the 澳洲幸运5开奖号码历史查询:best single-player games you can play right now, so it's also worth checking out our recommendations there if 𒆙you're looking for more games to dive into that might appeal to you.  

2025 has been the year of RPGs as well, giving us some fantastic outings such as 澳洲幸运5开奖号码历史查询:Assassin's Creed: Shadows and Clair Obscur: Expedition 33. We've also heard news for future releases such as 澳洲幸运5开奖号码历史查询:Mass Effect 5, 澳洲幸运5开奖号码历史查询:Fallout 5, 澳洲幸运5开奖号码历史查询:Elder Scrolls 6, so this year's just the start as well when it comes to exciting new games in the genre. With that in mind, there's a lot to keep track of. But, if you're looking for ℱsome role-playing goodness to get stuck into immedꦆiately, read on below as we take you through our pick of the best RPGs you can play right now. 

The 25 best RPGs you can play right now

25. In Stars and Time

Developer: insertdisc5
Platform(s): PC, PS4, PS5, Nintendo Switch

In Stars and Time is 澳洲幸运5开奖号码历史查询:one of the best indie RPGs we saw in 2023, and it's well worth checking out if you're looki๊ng for something with a unique twist. Following the adventure of Siffrin and their friends, you set out to try and end an evil king's schemes. But just as you try to do the final showdown, you find yourself trapped in a time loop.

With every death and mistake you make, you learn more - growing stronger, wiser, and more capable of taking on the king with each atte🐈mpt. Complete with an engaging turn-based combat system that follows the rules of rock paper scissors and a satisfying sense of progression, the party you journey with feels like a reꩲal found family, and the design and feel of In Stars and Time leave a lasting impression.

24. Horizon Forbidden West

Developer: Guerrilla Games
Platform(s): PS4, PS5, PC

澳洲幸运5开奖号码历史查询:Horizon Forbidden West is the sequel to the beloved Horizon Zero Dawn, and it does exactly what a good sequel should: it iterates on what made the game great and pushes itself beyond that. The open world of the Forbidden West beckons you with enticing quests in every corner and robot dinosaurs around every bend, with enough variety t♉o feel excitingly fresh while also feeling familiar, like a warm blanket wrapped around your shoulders on a cold night.

Simple fetch quests expand into beautiful stories, and Aloy remains the center of this world as a character you are immediately drawn to and root for. There are few sequels that so elegantly expand upon the original like this game. In fact, we called it "phenomenal" during our 澳洲幸运5开奖号码历史查询:Horizon Forbidden West review, and it's an RPG you can't miss.

23. Final Fantasy 7 Rebirth

Developer: Square Enix
Platform(s): PS5, PC

澳洲幸运5开奖号码历史查询:Final Fantasy 7 Rebirth takes us beyond the city of Midgar in Final Fantasy 7 Remake to bring us a grand, sprawling adventure in the wider world. Following Cloud and the gang as they set off in pursuit of Sephiroth, Rebirth🔯 builds on what🌼 came before, with new synergy abilities and skills in combat, more opportunities to bond with your party, and impressive modern recreations of locales plucked from the original 1997 release.

As we said in our 澳洲幸运5开奖号码历史查询:Final Fantasy 7 Rebirth review, the follow-up adds meaningful improvements to side content, and the overall experience is elevated by just how much the party is able to shine as 🌱a group throughout. While it🍌's still worth diving into Remake first, Rebirth is undoubtedly a fitting continuation.

22. Divinity: Original Sin 2

Developers: Larian Studios
Platform(s): PC, PS4, PS5, Xbox𒁃 One, Xbox Series X/S, Nintendo Switch

There's a ton of flexibility in Divinity: Original Sin 2, as well as rewarding combat and beautiful visuals that really make this one of the best RPGs around. Take your time when choosing your 澳洲幸运5开奖号码历史查询:Divinity 2 class, as the depth and flexibility of yo♓ur build mean your first decision is an important one.

Then, dive into the world of Rivellon, where dark beings from beyond the veil are invading after the one person meant to hold them back died before the start of thi🔴s game's events. At times, this game will feel a helluva lot like you're enjoying a tabletop RPG, thanks to Larian Studios embracing choice and creativity. Once you pick up Divinity: Original Sin 2, you'll find it hard to put d♉own.

21. Cyberpunk 2077

Developer: CD Projekt Red
Platform(s): PC, PS4, PS5, Xbox One, Xbox Series X/S

澳洲幸运5开奖号码历史查询:Cyberpunk 2077 has come a long way since it first launched in 2020, with a myriad of improvements, updates that add more to the experience, and the recent launch of the 澳洲幸运5开奖号码历史查询:Phantom Liberty DLC featuring an espionage-shaped adventu🍎re starring Idris Elba.

Following the journey of V, who sets out to save their own life after a gig takes a very bad turn, you get swept up in the goings-on of Night City with an engram of an infamous rockerboy by the name of Johnny Silverhand, aka Keanu Reeves. With a host of characters to meet along the way - and some you can develop a relationship with if you so choose - the neon-tinted RPG takes you on quite a ride. For more details, check out our five-star 澳洲幸运5开奖号码历史查询:Cyberpunk 2077 review.

20. The Outer Worlds

Developer: Obsidian Entertainment
Platform(s): PC, PS4꧂, PS5, Xbox One, Xbox Serie🌳s X/S, Nintendo Switch

The Outer Worlds is a game that lets Obsidian show off its best talent: Making RPGs with great dialogue, engaging characters, and a world that drags you in and never lets you go. The Outer Worlds feels like Firefly and Mass Effect had a neon space baby, and you are the caretaker of its future – no pressure. Sure, this game asks you to do a lot of talking in order to get to the best bits itꦿ has to offer, but almost every conversation you have with the denizens of Halcyon will delight you in some way.

As we mention in our 澳洲幸运5开奖号码历史查询:The Outer Worlds review, brilliant voice acting coupled with cracking writing, and surprisingly deft facial animations, means you will be picking favorites and picking them fast. This makes every decision more difficult, which is the mark of a great RPG: the ability to make you sweat with anxiety over a superficially innocuous dialogue option. 澳洲幸运5开奖号码历史查询:The Outer Worlds 2 is also currently being worked on, so be sure 🏅to play this game before😼 the sequel comes out!

19. Pillars of Eternity

Developer: Obsidian Entertainment
Platform(s): PC, PS4, PS5, Xbox One, Xbox Series X/S, Ninte꧑ndo Switch

If you find yourself reminiscing about Baldur's Gate, Pillars of Eternity is the game for you. It's also a game for you to get into if you're looking to see what to play next if you've just wrapped up Obsidian's latest game, Avowed, which♔ is set in Eora – the same world as PoE. The world of Eora is a captivating world full of different races like elves, dwarves, humans, orlans, aumaua, and more – there's a clear Dungeons and Dragons influence here.

You might spend hours on the character creation screen before you even dive into the comp🌳elling story, which offers eleven playable classes and the option to choose a pet (yes, you read that right). Talking to 🌜characters includes descriptions of their body language to help you better decide how to react to them, which is just one of many amazing details that prove Obsidian really put everything into Pillars of Eternity.

18. Fire Emblem: Three Houses

Developer: Intelligent Systems
Platform(s): Nintendo Switch

Fire Emblem: Three Houses brings the turn-based strategy series to Nintendo Switch, which means you can spend hundreds of hours delving into its epic story no matter where you are. Not long after you boot up Three Houses, you'll find yourself wanting to build your team while commuting to work and learn more about☂ every last character while waiting in the doctor's office.

With a great story propelling the action forward into tight and difficult turn-based combat, Three Houses greatly improves upon the original formula. There's even a Persona-like relationship simulator that will have you arguing over your favorite characters with friends and getting emotionally invested in every last one of them. This is one you won't wanna miss. Read our 澳洲幸运5开奖号码历史查询:Fire Emblem: Three Houses review for more info!

17. Pokemon Legends: Arceus

Developer: Game Freak
Platform(s): Nintendo Switch

Game Freak wanted to create a new way to enjoy all the 澳洲幸运5开奖号码历史查询:best Pokemon games, and Pꦐokemon Legends Arceus does all that and more. Not only does the story pull you in immediately, but the shift to oꦑpen-world exploration delivers the kind of Pokemon experience we all dreamed of when we were young.

The series, which has doggedly stuck to its formula for 25 years, needed a game like Arceus, which injects it with new life, focusing more on the Pokemon and less on the gym leaders. This is delightful for fans of the 'mons as the "gotta catch 'em all" phrase truly takes center stage. As we pointed out in our澳洲幸运5开奖号码历史查询: Pokemon Legends Arceus review, there's so much fun to be had while playing this title that you won't mind the occasional performance issue, we prom✤ise.

16. Persona 5 Royal

Developer: Atlus
Platform(s): PS4, PS5, Xꦜbox One, Xbox Series X/S, Nintendo Switch, PC

School is hard. It’s even harder when you have a super-powered alter ego who spends their nights roaming through a supernatural realm fighting the bloodthirsty, personified desires of the people around them. Perso🍒na 5 Royal is an expanded version of Persona 5, one of the best RPG games of 2017.

The expansion gives quality of life and gameplay adjustments, plus two new characters, adding even more value to the 100-hour game. Persona 5 wants you to understand each character, and Royal gives you the chance to learn about mysterious student Kasumi Yoshizawa and school counselor Takuto Maruki - you'll be entrenched in the world of Shujin Academy before you know it. Read our 澳洲幸运5开奖号码历史查询:Persona 5 review if you want more detail﷽s on why this is one ༺of the best RPGs of all time.

15. Diablo 3

Developer: 澳洲幸运5开奖号码历史查询:Blizzard Entertainment
Platform(s): Xbox On🔯e, Xbox Series X/S♏, PS4, PS5, Nintendo Switch, PC

Diablo 3 made its debut a decade ago and in that time it has steadily risen to become one of the best cooperative RPGs out there. Once Blizzard cleared out the controversial auction house, refined the loot system, and expanded the endgame, Diablo 3 was given the space it needed to su🔜rpass its original limitations – the game that exists today is truly phenomenal.

Whether you're exploring the depths of Sanctuary alone or partying up with three other friends to take on the most challenging encounters, Diablo 3 is still one hell of a good experience. And if this gives you a taste for more, you can also dive right into Diablo 4.

14. Stardew Valley

Developer: ConcernedApe
Platform(s): PC, PS4, PS5, Xbox 🌌One, Xbox Series X/S, Nintendo Switch

In 澳洲幸运5开奖号码历史查询:Stardew Valley, Pelican Town welcomes everyone. After inheriting your grandfather's farm, you might want to cultivate the land into a lush paradise with fruits and vegetables springing from the ground, or perhaps you'd rather focus on🙈 the social side of the game and romance a villager of your choosing.

As more of the game unfolds, the further you'll get - aside from selling your produce and/or levelling up friendships, you can also tackle the dungeon-crawling mines. Or spend your days fishing. Or just buy hats to reward yourself for reaching milestones. Seasons dictate what you can and can't do, so you'll soon fall into a pleasantly repetitive routine. And that's a very good thing. If you have the farming bug, you can also check out our list of the best 澳洲幸运5开奖号码历史查询:games like Stardew Valley to play now.

13. Clair Obscur: Expedition 33

Developer: Sandfall Interactive 
Platform(s): PS5, PC, Xbox Series X/S

Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 isn't just one of the best RPGs that you can play right now, it’s also one of the 澳洲幸运5开奖号码历史查询:best games of 2025, period! Set in a dying🃏 world where a brutal god-like figure known as the Paintress paints a number on a monolith every year (killing everyone of t🌌hat age), you'll lead the members of Expedition 33 on their quest to destroy the Paintress before any more innocents die.

Heavily inspired by Belle Époque France aesthetics and JRPG mechanics, Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 is like a breath of fresh air. Combining real-time mechanics with strategic turn-based combat encounters, you'll be hooked from the get-go. In our 澳洲幸运5开奖号码历史查询:Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 review, we wrote how "Clair Obscur: Exped♏ition 33 is an outstanding visionary debut from Sandfall Interactive" and that it has "one of the most exciting and rewarding action and turn-based hybrid battle systems ever devised". It's also an emotional rollercoaster. Truly a modern masterpiece.  

12. Dragon Age: The Veilguard

Developer: BioWare
Platform(s): PC, PS5, Xbox Series X/S

It's been a long time coming, but 澳洲幸运5开奖号码历史查询:Dragon Age: The Veilguard at last brought back BioWare's fantasy series, and it plays to the studio's strengths in all the right ways. From introducing us to a cast of memorable companions, to taking us to new parts of Thedas i✤n an approachable story filled with choices and consequences.

There's plenty of role-play goodness, too, with a customizable character that can be a member of several different 澳洲幸运5开奖号码历史查询:Dragon Age: The Veilgaurd factions that give you a unique backstory and dialogue. As we said in our 澳洲幸运5开奖号码历史查询:Dragon Age The Veilguard review, it really is "a true return📖 to RPG 🍒form for BioWare". And once you've wrapped up Rook's journey, it's well worth checking out the games that came before it.

11. Bloodborne

Developer: FromSoftware
Platform(s): PS4

Welcome to Yarnum, a gloomy, somber city straight out of a gothic novel whose inhabitants are suffering through a plague – not just of the illness type, but also the dangerous beasts type. Yarnum, despite𝓰 being the last place you'd want to visit IRL, will entice you, beggin🐼g you to return back to it long after you've bested its worst.

You'll want to knock on more doors and hear the bizarre cackles of villagers, or walk along another rooftop in an attempt to find a hidden mystery. Our 澳洲幸运5开奖号码历史查询:Bloodborne review points out how this is a near-perfect game, and for good reason. Bloodborne's streamlined RPG elements have y꧋ou working with six stats, and the character𒐪 creator lets you design some of the coolest Victorian Gothic heroes ever. The hats, man, the hats are so cool.

10. Assassin's Creed Odyssey

Developer: Ubisoft
Platform(s): PC, PS4, PS5, Xbox One, Xbox Series X/S

If you couldn't tell already from our five-star 澳洲幸运5开奖号码历史查询:Assassin’s Creed Odyssey review, this is a leap forward for Ubisoft’s stabby series. For the first time, you have NPCs to romance (whether you want to be a Casanova or as chaste as a saint), and dialogue options. Then combine th🅷ose brand-new features with the return of naval combat and enough side-quests, locations, and hidden secrets to keep youꦡ busy for days, and you've got Odyssey.

Your misthios (mercenary) Alexios or Kassandra is truly yours to shape however you wish. With nine endings to unlock, the way you end specific quests will end up impacting the world around you, whether that’s for the better or worse. You know what that means? Multiple playthroughs. If you dare, of course, as you will be kept busy for over 100 hours if you choose to explore everywhere and do everything (and everyone). This RPG put the Assassin's Creed series on a new path - one that both 澳洲幸运5开奖号码历史查询:Assassin's Creed Origins and 澳洲幸运5开奖号码历史查询:Assassin's Creed Valhalla would go on to follow.

9. Disco Elysium

Developer: ZA/UM
Platform(s): PC, PS4, PS5, Xbox One, ꦯXbox Series X/S, 🌟Nintendo Switch

In Disco Elysi⛎um, you're a detective who has a drinking problem, drug-induced amnesia, and you can die in the opening minutes while trying to get your tie from the ceiling fan. There's no traditional combat, but there are dialogue trees and skill checks, and you'll need to upgradꦦe skills to pass skill checks; however, it's a slippery slope.

Upgrade your Drama too high, and you might be partial to the occasional fit of hysterics. All of Disco Elysium is based on dice rolls, which are 🌄added to your skill value and sta🍷t value - the resulting roll and addition of all the stats will tell you if you've succeeded in completing a task, which can be as asinine as getting your tie from a ceiling fan.

8. Elden Ring

Developer: FromSoftware
Platform(s): PC, PS4, PS5, Xbox One, Xbox Series X/S

澳洲幸运5开奖号码历史查询:Elden Ring introduces you to a breathtakingly beautiful world filled with bizarre, twisted lore that's the result of a collab between George R. R. Martin and Hidetaka Miyazaki - and you'll never want to leave it. From poison swamps to cursed kings, The Lands Between is fas💫cinating and fearsome. Elden Ring is an absolute beast, taking th💟e best parts of the FromSoftware formula and injecting them with refreshing new elements that attract veteran and beginner players alike.

If you want to avoid that big, bad boss early on in the game, hop on your horse Torrent and level up a bit, or find a better weapon tucked away in a castle full of mean magicians. There are tons of options for players that mean countless permutations of weapon, armor, and stat builds; giving you so many ways to play this game you can easily justify a playthrough or two (or three). Read our 澳洲幸运5开奖号码历史查询:Elden Ring review for more details!

7. Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic

Developer: BioWare
Platform(s): PC,🥃 PS4, PS5, Xbox One, Xbox Series X/S,🌳 Nintendo Switch

Sometimes, RPGs can feel a bit unapproachable. If you're not a lover of the game type, you might feel daunted by a title that requires an endless supply of patience or 🌜a seemingly endless supply of choice. Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic is a game that appeals to hardcore RPG players and those who may have been hesitant to join the ranks. Set 4,000 years before the movies' events, you are tasked with training in the ways of the Force under the tutelage of the Jedi.

The game lets you pick from three character classes at the start of the game and choose if your character will align with the dark side or the light side of the Force. This is easily one of the 澳洲幸运5开奖号码历史查询:best Star Wars games around, and fans adore it as it captures the magical, space-fantastical essence of the films while imbuing the entire experience with choice. There's incredible voice acting, accessible gameplay, and sparkling supporting characters. Plus, you get to swing a karking lightsaber.

6. Elder Scrolls 5: Skyrim

Developer: Bethesda
Platform(s): PC, PSꦑ4, PS5, Xbox One, Xbox Series X/S, Nintendo Switch

Be anyone you want. Do anything you want. Elder Scrolls 5: Skyrim is rammed full of delirious licenses to properly live in its world. You can devote yourself to Alchemy and go hunting for a D𓆏aedra heart, adventure to the top of the Companions, or just wander around Skyrim making a living harvesting wheat and potatoes as a farmhand.

Sure, the threat of a dragon razing a nearby village is almost ever-present. But despite the incoming apoc🍎alypse, your goals in Skyrim are just that - your own. Nothing forces you to accept quests. While we wait for Elder Scrolls 6 to be released, rest assured that Skyrim boots you out into the open with some looted gear and a whole world at your feet, and then it♈’s up to you to find out what kind of Dragonborn you want to be.

5. Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild

Developer: Nintendo
Platform(s): Nintendo Switch

Link is a blank canvas. A wonderful, quiet, blank canvas that you can turn into a stealthy Sheikah, a fully-armored knight, or someone who runs around in their underwear throwing chickens at Moblins. Link’s personality is so malleable that you can do whatever you want in 澳洲幸运5开奖号码历史查询:Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild, and it just feels right. Despite the apoc𒆙alypse that’s on the way, people have their own business to be getting on with and let you꧒ do exactly the same.

From spotting the tip of a new tower in the distance to navigating one of the mysterious mazes on the edge of the map, your surroundings are so intriguing that the world practically begs you to get distracted, fitting perfectly into the idea that Link has woken up after decades in slumber and just can’t stay still. Read our 澳洲幸运5开奖号码历史查询:Legend of Zelda: Br🔥eath of the Wild re𓂃view for more details. It's also worth checking out the follow-up, 澳洲幸运✅5开奖号码历史查询:Leg𓄧end of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom.

4. Fallout: New Vegas

Developer: Obsidian Entertainment
Platform(s): PC, PS4, Xbox One

You can't blame The Courier for going on their rampage. Someone just shot them in the head; they survived, and now they want answers. But with all of 澳洲幸运5开奖号码历史查询:Fallout: New Vegas' land available to explore right from the beginning, that can wait. Not really a surprise, considering it’s also one of the 澳洲幸运5开奖号码历史查询:best open world games around. You might even decide that finding the person who shot you in the head is the last thing you want, your ✅survival instinct telling you that you had probably best stay away.

Join one of the many fierce factions, try to become the Savior of the Damned by boosting your good karma, or simply create your own goals. Collect all the teddy bears in the land. Clear Quarry Junction from its, er… pest problem. It's up to you. Seriously, New Vegas isn't just one of the best RPGs of all time; it's also one of the 澳洲幸运5开奖号码历史查询:best Fallout games ever made. It's a must-play.

3. Mass Effect 2

Developer: BioWare
Platform(s): PC, PS4, PS5, Xbox One, Xbox Series X/S

In this sequel (which you can enjoy along with the entire trilogy thanks to the 澳洲幸运5开奖号码历史查询:Mass Effect Legendary Edition), BioWare takes the foundation laid in Mass Effect and builds a beautiful shiny space house on top of it. Oh, and it chucks out the goddamn 澳洲幸运5开奖号码历史查询:Mako maneuvering. There's a completely redesigned combat system that evokes the duck and cover style ꦿof the Gears games - with Shepard's special skills and your squad's unique abilities; you get dynamic gam💯eplay that feels personalized.

The game's comfortable place as the space meat in the middle of the "introducing you to this world" and "destroying this world" sandwich gives the plot some breathing room. Into that breathing room steps the most incredible cast of characters, potentially ever. The romance options actually hurt your feelings, the background stories tug at your heartstrings, and the ideological arguments between your friends paralyze you. Sure, RPGs are good at evoking emotion and forcing you to make game-time decisions, but the sheer magnitude of how much Mass Effect 2 makes you care is a rare achievement. Find out more about this masterpiece in our 澳洲幸运5开奖号码历史查询:Mass Effect 2 review.

2. The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt

Developer: CD Projekt Red
Platform(s): PC, PS5, PS4, Xbox One, Xbox Series X/S, Nintendo Switch

There's nothing quite like The Witcher 3ღ. One moment, you can help put the soul of a Noonwraith to rest, and the next, you can head to the Passiflora and engage in some heavy petting (that you paid for). With a fantastic mix of tough (but fun) combat, brilliant writing, and truly difficult decisions, The Witcher 3 will sink its hooks into you faster than you can say, "Wind's howling." Geralt of Rivia is both reviled and required by the people of𓄧 this mythical world, and the tension of being an outsider in an environment growing more prejudiced by the minute is palpable.

But, as we mentioned in our 澳洲幸运5开奖号码历史查询:Witcher 3 review, keeping busy is easy. Spend your time slaying monsters or seeking out rare armor tucked away in hard-to-reach areas - the choice is yours. And once you're done with the weighty and intense main storyline, you can simply download The Blood and Wine and Hearts of Stone DLC for a few dozen more hours of hanging out with Geralt and Roach. Simply put, this is the second best damn RPG you can play right now (especially since it got a shiny next-gen upgrade on PS5 a�𒁃�nd Xbox Series X/S), so toss a coin to your Witcher; you've got the time – we're in for a wait for 澳洲幸运5开奖号码历史查询:The Witcher 4, after all.

1. Baldur's Gate 3

Developer: Larian Studios
Platform(s): PC, PS5, Xbox Series X/S

澳洲幸运5开奖号码历史查询:Baldur's Gate 3 is not only the best RPG around, but it also topped our pick of the 澳洲幸运5开奖号码历史查询:best games of 2023. And it's no wonder when you consider the depth and breadth of Larian's adventure. In fact, we're still playing this game today, and it's raised the bar high for every new RPG♔ that comes our way.

With so much freedom to shape your journey, the Sword Coast is a veritable playground for you to experiment - whether that be with the abilities of your chosen class, what decisions you make during major story beats, or who - if anyone - you decide to romance as you try to deal with the tadꦯpole lodged in your brain. With a memorable cast of characters, fantastic storytelling, and choices with impactful consequences, Baldur's Gate 3 is a massively engrossing e𓂃xperience that is leading the charge when it comes to the modern RPG landscape.

If you want to know more about our top pick for the best RPG of all time, read our 澳洲幸运5开奖号码历史查询:Baldur's Gate 3 review.

For more titles, check out our list of all the 澳洲幸运5开奖号码历史查询:new games heading our way this year and next.

This is to implement the first of two pre-patches ahead of the release of the 澳洲幸运5开奖号码历史查询:Dragonflight expansion at the end of the month. The headlining change for this first release is undoubtedly a talent system revamp. In a , the development team said that "the new talent system empowers players𓄧 to make creative and meaningful talent choices without compromising their effectiveness - and most importantly, it gives them meaningful options at every level."

The game will also be getting a facelift with a HUD UI update. This will revam🃏p the iconic interface to a more modern take which will feature more customization options than ever before. 

There as several other feꦕatures coming too like new accessibility features, rated Solo Shuffle, and new class and race combinations. 

This is only the first of two pre-patches too. The second is due November 15 and will bring with it the new race, 澳洲幸运5开奖号码历史查询:the Dracthyr, as well as the new zone, The Forbidden Reach, allowing players to play thr♊ough a new starting arꦅea. 

Pre-patches, especially ꦚahead of a new expansion, are always an exciting time for World of Warcraft players. However, make surಞe you're not planning to do any large-scale raids during downtime. 

Want more? Check out the 澳洲幸运5开奖号码历史查询:best MMORPG games to play right now.