World Of Warcraft: Battle For Azeroth to release on 14 August 2018

Blizzard has just announced that the seventh expansion for World Of Warcraft, titled Battle For Azeroth, will be released on 14th August 2018. World Of Warcraft (or WoW as some of us like to call it) need no introduction as it is perhaps the most iconic MMORPG ever. In 'World Of Warcraft: Battle For Azeroth' the focus shifts back on the Alliance vs Horde rivalry after the Burning Legion has been held at bay.

The game has already been available for pre-order and there will be a Deluxe Edition on launch that will include

• Battle For Azeroth expansion
• Seabraid Stallion (Alliance) mount & Gilded Ravasaur (Horde) mount
• Tottle the Baby Tortollan pet for World of Warcraft
• “Azeroth Is Burning” card back for Hearthstone
• Primal Flamesaber mount in Heroes of the Storm
• Horde and Alliance sprays for StarCraft II
• A collection of faction-themed extras for Overwatch.

The physical copy of the Deluxe Edition will have the above mentioned items along with:

• Horde & Alliance Double-Sided Mark of Allegiance emblem with a stand
• Hardcover Double-Sided Book: Elegy & A Good War: 
• Battle for Azeroth Digital Soundtrack

World of Warcraft: Battle for Azeroth Features

• Two Fabled Kingdoms: Zandalar for Horde & Kul Tiras for Alliance
• 6 new playable Allied Races
• 3-player Island Expeditions
• 20-player Warfront inspired by classic Warcraft real-time strategy–game battles.
• New artifact: Heart of Azeroth
• Level cap raised to 120

In addition to these things, the expansion will se stat squishing in a big way to control the growing numbers (seriously, 7 million health is a bit outrageous). The character limit on one account, which used to be 12, will increase to 16. On release, there will be 8 dungeons and one raid available thereafter.

Overwatch League receives 10 million views in the first opening week

The Overwatch League roared to life last week at the Blizzard Arena Los Angeles, with four days of intense competition between all 12 teams of the world’s first major global city-based professional eSports league. Buoyed by a newly announced two-year deal with Twitch, the Overwatch League’s exclusive worldwide third-party digital broadcast partner, opening day drew an impressive average
audience per minute of 408,000, and an average of 280,000 per minute for the week. More than 10 million viewers tuned in over the four-day period via Twitch, MLG, and Chinese streaming partners ZhanQi TV, NetEase CC, and Panda TV—not to mention the countless additional viewers at watch parties worldwide. On Twitch and MLG alone, the peak concurrent online audience of 437,000 hit during the highly anticipated day-one matchup between Dallas Fuel and Seoul Dynasty. In addition, tickets to Blizzard Arena Los Angeles were sold out for the entirety of opening week.

“We’re thrilled by the overwhelming response to the Overwatch League’s opening week of
play,” said Pete Vlastelica, President and CEO of Major League Gaming (MLG). “But this is only
the beginning. With more than 35 million Overwatch players, the Overwatch League has the
potential to become one of the most-watched leagues—of any kind—in the world.”

“Since we announced Overwatch League at BlizzCon 2016, we’ve been eagerly awaiting the day
when the global competitive Overwatch community could come together under one banner,”
said Nate Nanzer, Overwatch League commissioner. “Opening week was that coming-out
party—for the fans, both in-person at Blizzard Arena Los Angeles and tuned in by the millions all
over the world, and for the players, whose love for the game came through crystal clear.”

“We had high expectations for the inaugural broadcast of the Overwatch League on Twitch,
given our platform’s passionate fanbase for Overwatch" said Kevin Lin, COO of Twitch. “They really put on an amazing show and fans showed up en masse to support and celebrate
Overwatch. Based on the response from the community, Overwatch League is off to a great
start and we look forward to watching how the season progresses. This league demonstrates
the power and potential of esports, and we’re thrilled to continue expanding our partnership
with Blizzard.”

Viewers can tune in to catch all the action on

• Twitch
• www.mlg.com,
• The MLG app (on iOS and Android)
• www.overwatchleague.com 
• The Overwatch League app, which launched last week for iOS and Android.
• Blizzard gamers also can get easy access to the Overwatch League via a new Overwatch League tab in the Blizzard Battle.net desktop app.

The first season of the Overwatch League runs until June, with playoffs and finals scheduled for
July. For the inaugural season, all regular-season games will take place at the Blizzard Arena Los
Angeles, a state-of- the-art live-event venue in Burbank, California, custom-renovated for Blizzard Entertainment eSports events. Fans can purchase tickets to attend matches, which will be played each Wednesday, Thursday, Friday, and Saturday.

A full schedule and information about ticket sales can be found at www.overwatchleague.com

Inaugeral season for the very first Overwatch League begins!

Blizzard has launched the inaugural season for its very first Overwatch League. Teams from 12 different cities have been gathered to fight it out in the massively successful multiplayer first-person shooter. These teams are composed of the best Overwatch players around the globe. While playing and competing for the title is a big reward in itself, Blizzard has a total amount of USD $3.5 million as performance bonus out of which almost 50% of the amount will go to the players along with the usual salary!

You can join in the fun by either tuning into the Twitch Overwatch channel or going to MLG.  The first match of the season will begin 4 pm PT, that is at 5:30 am on January 12 here in India. In case you want to experience the event in person, you will have to be in California as the matches are being held in the Blizzard Arena in Burback.
The tickets for that can be found here - https://goo.gl/SAUFXw

 

World Of Warcraft Auction House Dance Party 2018!

Happy New Year 2018!!

One of the most popular MMORPG, World Of Warcraft, is know for creating a whole new fun filled world within the game. It is a common sight to see real world occasions being celebrated on Azeroth as well. So it was only natural for the people at Blizzard to do something for the New Year 2018.

If you happen to be playing the game post midnight on the last day of 2017 then a visit to the Auction House in the capital of Stormwind or Orgrimmar will be a pleasant surprise. You will find the usual setup replaced with a party themed one.

There are multicoloured floor tiles, pompous music and a buff that makes you dance the moment you enter the AH. Not only this, the AH NPCs have also taken leave to enjoy the new year so no boring trading stuff to be done while the party is on. While you dance inside the 'Party House' (that's what I will call the AH for the rest of the article) you can also get a chance to be summoned on stage and steal the limelight for a while as people admire your sweet moves! But beware because if you try and force yourself on the stage then you will be teleported back on the dance floor.

Every time you are summoned on the stage, you will be blessed with the Happy Feet buff that will occasionally set your feet tapping to unheard music and also recover 6% of health and mana every second. This buff will stack to a maximum of 7 days.

So enjoy folks, wherever you are, in the real world or in the virtual!