Thursday will see Blizzard's most ambitious take on the MMO genre—taking it to the mobile platform exclusively, with "Diablo Immortal." The game is being launched as "free to play," and like most titles built on this business-model, you buy in-game items to improve your gameplay, some of these are lootboxes. Blizzard decided to not release the game in countries with laws against lootboxes. This would mean that gamers in The Netherlands and Belgium would miss the game, Blizzard will not release or support the game for players from these countries. Even if they manage to install the game somehow (eg: using a VPN), Blizzard says it cannot guarantee that such players won't be banned from the game (because even playing the game would be illegal).

The Worldstone is shattered, and it now falls to the heroes of Sanctuary to fend off the terrors rising in its wake. Blizzard Entertainment today announced that beginning June 2, players in most regions across the world will take up the call to defend against the Burning Hells in Diablo Immortal, the first Blizzard game designed from the ground up for mobile, with the remaining regions in Asia-Pacific gaining access a few weeks later. n addition to offering an uncompromised AAA experience on mobile, the most ambitious game released in the Diablo franchise's 25-year history will enter into Open Beta on Windows PC at launch. Diablo Immortal supports both cross-play and cross-progression, allowing Sanctuary's heroes to join the fight with each other regardless of platform while being able to seamlessly transition between mobile and PC gameplay. The Open Beta on PC will contain all game features, including cross-play and cross-progression, and upon conclusion all progress will be maintained.

"The demons of the Burning Hells are ready to be slain in the most expansive Diablo game that Blizzard has ever released," said Mike Ybarra, president of Blizzard Entertainment. "As Blizzard's first game designed from the ground up for mobile, it was important to us to deliver an experience worthy of the franchise, so we did a lot of testing, incorporated a lot of feedback, and created a game that we're very excited to share with players. We're looking forward to unleashing this epic new entry in the Diablo franchise, and we can't wait to join everyone in Sanctuary." With the fate of Sanctuary in their hands, players will choose between six iconic Diablo classes-Barbarian, Crusader, Demon Hunter, Monk, Necromancer, or Wizard-and embark on a journey through eight unique zones and the great city of Westmarch. They will join up with new and familiar Diablo characters, including the franchise's patriarch Deckard Cain, on an expansive quest to hunt down the shattered pieces of the corrupted Worldstone before the forces of the Burning Hells can gather them for their own sinister plans in an epic all-new story taking place between the events of Diablo II and Diablo III.

From his grim citadel deep in the frozen continent of Northrend, the dreaded Lich King Arthas Menethil sets in motion his conquest of Azeroth, ushering in one of the most unforgettable sagas in Warcraft history. Blizzard Entertainment today announced that World of Warcraft : Wrath of the Lich King Classic is coming later this year, inviting players to experience anew an adventure that indelibly shaped the ongoing story of Warcraft. When it launches in 2022, this finely tuned re-release of the smash-hit 2008 expansion will be available at no additional cost to all players with an active World of Warcraft subscription.

"We're thrilled to revisit one of the most beloved eras in Warcraft history with Wrath of the Lich King Classic," said Mike Ybarra, President of Blizzard Entertainment. "The original release of this expansion brought many improvements to the game, along with a timeless villain and an epic story. We're taking care to preserve the authentic Classic experience for those looking to relive their glory days in Northrend—and deliver a worthy and accessible re-creation for those embarking on this vast adventure for the first time."

With three billion people actively playing games today, and fueled by a new generation steeped in the joys of interactive entertainment, gaming is now the largest and fastest-growing form of entertainment. Today, Microsoft Corp. announced plans to acquire Activision Blizzard Inc., a leader in game development and interactive entertainment content publisher. This acquisition will accelerate the growth in Microsoft's gaming business across mobile, PC, console and cloud and will provide building blocks for the metaverse.

Microsoft will acquire Activision Blizzard for $95.00 per share, in an all-cash transaction valued at $68.7 billion, inclusive of Activision Blizzard's net cash. When the transaction closes, Microsoft will become the world's third-largest gaming company by revenue, behind Tencent and Sony. The planned acquisition includes iconic franchises from the Activision, Blizzard and King studios like "Warcraft," "Diablo," "Overwatch," "Call of Duty" and "Candy Crush," in addition to global eSports activities through Major League Gaming. The company has studios around the word with nearly 10,000 employees.

Activision Blizzard, Inc. today announced the hiring of two senior executives to help the company build a more inclusive workplace as well as diversify and grow its revenue. Julie Hodges, Senior Vice President, Corporate HR and Compensation, Benefits and Talent Acquisition at The Walt Disney Company, will become Chief People Officer, effective September 21. Sandeep Dube, Senior Vice President, Revenue Management at Delta Airlines, will become Chief Commercial Officer, effective September 27.

"These two outstanding leaders from companies with exceptional reputations will help us achieve our goal of becoming the best company to work for in the entertainment industry while growing our reach, engagement and player investment," said Bobby Kotick, Chief Executive Officer of Activision Blizzard. Ms. Hodges brings more than three decades of global human resources experience in entertainment and an impeccable record of shaping corporate culture. She will be responsible for the company's global talent organization, making Activision Blizzard the destination for top talent. In her role, she will lead all aspects of human resources, including diversity, equity and inclusion, talent acquisition, employee experience, learning and development, compensation and benefits and workforce planning.

"You are not prepared!" Fourteen years ago, Illidan Stormrage issued that thunderous warning to those who would dare confront him in the shattered realm of Outland. Starting June 1, heroes of Azeroth new and old will have the opportunity to gather their courage and rally their allies to face the Betrayer once again with the worldwide launch of World of Warcraft : Burning Crusade Classic.

Burning Crusade Classic, Blizzard Entertainment's authentic recreation of the acclaimed first World of Warcraft expansion, sends players back through the Dark Portal to the shattered realm of Outland—a distant, fel-scarred planet where the forces of the demonic Burning Legion prepare to mount an assault against all life on Azeroth. Featuring a strange and treacherous new world to discover; two new playable races, the blood elves and draenei; and the all-new ability to soar and explore upon flying mounts in Outland, Burning Crusade Classic will give WoW veterans and newcomers alike a chance to experience a timeless era of Warcraft adventure.

Blizzard, a popular game developer, has today implemented NVIDIA's latest technology for latency reduction into its first-person shooter—Overwatch. Called NVIDIA Reflex, the technology aims to reduce system latency by combining the NVIDIA GPUs with G-SYNC monitors, and specially certified peripherals, all of which can be found on the company website. NVIDIA Reflex dynamically reduces system latency by combining both GPU and game optimizations, which game developers implement, and the gamer is left with a much more responsive system that can edge out a competitive advantage. Today, we get to see just how much the new technology helps in the latest Overwatch update that brings NVIDIA's Reflex with it.

Blizzard has tested three NVIDIA GPUs: GeForce RTX 3080, RTX 2060 SUPER, and GTX 1660 SUPER. All three GPUs cover three different segments, so they are a good sign of what you can expect from your system. Starting from the GeForce GTX 1660 Super, the system latency, which was measured in milliseconds, was cut by over 50%. The middle-end RTX 2060 SUPER GPU experienced a similar gain, while the RTX 3080 was seen with the smallest gain, however, it did achieve the lowest latency out of all GPUs tested. You can check out the results for yourself below.

Beyond the Dark Portal in the shattered realm of Outland, the armies of the demonic Burning Legion prepare for an invasion that threatens the entire world of Azeroth. Later this year, World of Warcraft players will return to the fel-scarred ruin of Hellfire Peninsula to stop the incursion at its source; rediscover what lurks below the fungal forests of Zangarmarsh; and face down Illidan the Betrayer once again in Burning Crusade Classic, Blizzard Entertainment's authentic recreation of the acclaimed first World of Warcraft expansion.

"The World of Warcraft community made it clear that they wanted WoW Classic, and now they're eager to continue their journey into The Burning Crusade," said J. Allen Brack, president of Blizzard Entertainment. "Since the launch of WoW Classic and as we rolled out content updates, we've learned a lot about what players want from an experience like this in 2021. We're building on that to ensure players' new adventures in Outland are as epic as ever, whether they're taking a return trip through the Dark Portal or joining us for the very first time."

Diablo II, one of the most acclaimed titles in PC gaming history, returns... and Hell has never looked better. Blizzard Entertainment today revealed Diablo II: Resurrected, the definitive remastering of Diablo II and its Lord of Destruction expansion—two hallmark entries in the company's genre-defining action role-playing series.

Diablo II was hailed by Time magazine as "arguably the best role-playing game of all time, the best dungeon-crawler of all time and the best PC game of all time." Diablo II: Resurrected welcomes back veteran heroes and invites a new generation of players to experience the game's sinfully dark storyline, thrilling loot chase, and visceral hack-and-slash gameplay with modernized visuals that take advantage of the latest gaming hardware.

Blizzard has recently announced a major overhaul of their Battle.net software to make getting into your games quicker and easier. The new Battle.net design features several major navigation and layout changes including improved game organization, full-page news & game content, revamped social pane, and a new consolidated notification hub. These new features have been under development for some time with beta participants and will now be rolling out to all users starting with North America. The updates will then be rolled out globally in the weeks ahead.

Starting November 23, World of Warcraft players around the globe began their journey into the unknown reaches of Azeroth's afterlife in Shadowlands, the game's highly anticipated eighth expansion. Today, Blizzard Entertainment announced that as of the first full day of Shadowlands' launch, more than 3.7 million units had sold through globally, making it the fastest-selling PC game of all time industry-wide.

The previously announced industry record-holder, Blizzard's own Diablo III, sold through more than 3.5 million copies as of its first day of release. Today's announcement confirms that Shadowlands has surpassed that milestone as well as any other reported sell-through achievement for the same time frame among all PC games historically.

In the Shadowlands, the world beyond the mortal realm, Azeroth's souls discover new purpose: to ascend, to atone, to be reborn, to wage everlasting war or suffer an eternity of torment. For the millions of World of Warcraft players around the world, the journey to seize their own destiny in the afterlife begins today with the launch of Shadowlands, the eighth expansion for Blizzard Entertainment's acclaimed massively multiplayer online role-playing game.

In World of Warcraft: Shadowlands, the heroes of the Horde and the Alliance will come face-to-face with the mysteries of death as they journey through the next world's wondrous realms. Along the way, they'll forge a fate-changing pact with one of the Shadowlands' four ruling Covenants, drawing upon their otherworldly power to confront the forces of the Jailer, the malevolent entity who holds dominion over the hopeless depths of the Maw. Players' resolve will be tested as they seek to reclaim lost souls from the Jailer's watchful eye and venture into the labyrinthine corridors of Torghast, Tower of the Damned, where long-imprisoned horrors—and legendary rewards—await.

As part of its road towards release of their Radeon RX 6000 series, AMD has posted a video showcasing the raytracing effects that are being baked into World of Warcraft: Shadowlands. This comes as a result of a strategic partnership between the two companies. World of Warcraft: Shadowlands will be making use of AMD's FidelityFX Ambient Occlusion, where Blizzard says they were able to achieve "(...)a perfect balance between quality and performance..." which allowed them to achieve "(...)a significant performance advantage over our previous ambient occlusion applications."

World of Warcraft: Shadowlands will also be making use of DXR Raytracing technology as well as Variable Rate Shading (VRS). Raytracing is being used to calculate light interactions between light sources, objects and characters on the screen, while VRS will enable the game to reduce shading resolution on areas closer to the corners of the frame, or in fast-moving objects, where detail would be lost either way, to achieve higher frame rates. The higher the resolution, the more impactful the benefits of VRS. So it seems that Blizzard has decided to implement two performance-increasing and one performance-decreasing features available from the DXR repository. Catch the video explaining these features and showcasing their implementation after the break.

Blue, a leading innovator in audio technology and design, today announced the new Yeti X World of Warcraft Edition professional USB microphone. Developed in collaboration with Blizzard Entertainment, Yeti X World of Warcraft Edition allows players to alter their voices to sound like denizens of Azeroth using the all-new voice modulation effect in Blue VO!CE. Gamers can celebrate victories, communicate with their raid group and entertain stream audiences using hundreds of HD audio samples from Blizzard's upcoming World of Warcraft: Shadowlands expansion and the Warcraft universe. Featuring a custom Warcraft design, Yeti X World of Warcraft Edition enables players to create a dynamic audio broadcast that elevates streams and gameplay to new levels.

"This is an exciting collaboration with Blizzard that brings the World of Warcraft universe to life with Yeti X," said Doug Sharp, Sr. Product Manager of Gaming at Blue Microphones. "Players not only get broadcast-quality audio, but can transform their voice to bring their personal creativity to their gameplay or stream. We're excited to see how gamers and streamers will use the new voice modulation effect and the Blizzard HD sample library to entertain audiences and create epic streams."

PC game minimum system requirements have until now prescribed minimum storage space. Blizzard's upcoming "World of Warcraft: Shadowlands" changes this, with the game specifically calling for at least 100 GB of SSD storage. Windows already has a way of telling an HDD from an SSD, and game developers can in theory enforce the requirement. With "Shadowlands," though, there doesn't appear to be any enforcement, with numerous VIPs on the Blizzard forums reporting that the game should launch from HDDs, albeit game load times could hurt. With next-generation game consoles implementing SSD for their higher transfer rates - but more importantly - for their significantly lower access times compared to HDDs, SSD as a system requirement on the PC platform was bound to happen. The gaming industry is designing its next-generation gaming experiencing around the low access times of SSD, and an HDD would fall short. The game's other system requirements are listed below.

Beyond Azeroth's shattered sky, a realm of infinite afterlives awaits: the Shadowlands, where mortal souls go to reckon with their pasts, discover new purpose... or suffer an eternity of torment. On October 27, the heroes of the Horde and the Alliance will forge their own fate in the next world as World of Warcraft : Shadowlands, the eighth expansion for Blizzard Entertainment's acclaimed massively multiplayer online role-playing game, launches around the globe.

Upon entering the Shadowlands, Azeroth's champions will encounter an otherworld in disarray. Virtuous souls are being wrongfully cast into the eternal darkness of the Maw, while the Covenants—powerful factions who hold dominion over the afterlife's disparate realms—face ruin and strife as the flow of the Shadowlands' essential anima mysteriously dwindles. As an ancient, long-bound evil gathers the strength to break its chains, players must carve their path through the uncharted reaches of the beyond, forge a pact with the Covenant that most aligns with their own principles and purpose—and ultimately restore balance to the hereafter.

Data miners have reportedly found a new piece of information about the very popular game World of Warcraft. Inside the game code for the new Shadowlands expansion pack, few data miners spotted support for gaming controllers, which lead to rumors that WoW is coming to next-generation consoles. With PlayStation 5 and Xbox Series X coming soon, it is now a hot topic to see which games are coming to the new platform. However, Blizzard has issued an official response to those rumors saying the following:

We currently have no plans to bring World of Warcraft or Shadowlands to Xbox Series X. The platform was listed on the Brazil Ministry of Justice rating website in error, and the entry has since been updated to reflect that the game is coming only to PC

The genre-defining Tony Hawk's Pro Skater franchise made its mark on videogames in the '90s touting the top names in skateboarding at the time. With the launch of Tony Hawk's Pro Skater 1 and 2 on September 4, 2020, the legacy continues with some of the most preeminent pro skaters in the world today -- Nyjah Huston, Leo Baker, Leticia Bufoni, Aori Nishimura, Lizzie Armanto, Shane O'Neill, Riley Hawk and Tyshawn Jones -- joining the lineup of OGs in the remaster.

"Modern-day skateboarding originated from a generation of skaters who grew up playing the original Tony Hawk's Pro Skater games," said Michelle Bresaw, Vice President of Product Management and Marketing at Activision. "The world-class pro skaters we're adding to this remaster took the tricks and combos from the videogame and made them possible in real life. We're proud that the remaster will represent the skate culture landscape today with a diverse roster of skaters that will appeal to any gamer."

Bandicoots get ready fur it, Crash is moving 4-ward into 2020 with a brand-new game that's built from the ground up and "It's About Time." No, literally! Activision Blizzard, Inc., and developer Toys for Bob, are giving fans the true sequel to the original trilogy with Crash Bandicoot 4: It's About Time. Our lovingly absurd marsupials are back and putting a fresh spin, jump and wump on conflicts of cosmic proportions, discovering expansive new worlds, unexpected allies, larger-than-life boss battles and powerful new Quantum Masks that must be united to restore order to the multiverse. Crash Bandicoot 4: It's About Time will be available for PlayStation 4, PlayStation 4 Pro, Xbox One and Xbox One X on October 2, 2020. Pre-orders are available now.

According to a recent report from CNBC AT&T is considering selling the Warner Bros. gaming division for about 4 billion dollars as it seeks to divest assets with total debts nearing 200 billion dollars. Interested parties include Take-Two Interactive, Electronic Arts, and Activision Blizzard according to Industry Insiders. Most Warner Bros. Interactive games are based on Warner-owned intellectual property, such as "Harry Potter," "Game of Thrones" and "The Lego Movie." in addition to several separate franchises such as "Mortal Kombat" and "Scribblenauts". Any deal will likely involve a commercial licensing agreement with AT&T where they can continue to receive revenue from its IP.

The videogame that transformed the skateboarding world is back! The original birdman Tony Hawk, and Vicarious Visions, the studio that reinvigorated Crash with the Crash Bandicoot N. Sane Trilogy, have teamed up to bring fans remastered versions of the first two badass games in the critically acclaimed Tony Hawk franchise -- Tony Hawk's Pro Skater 1 and 2. To provide players with breathtaking gameplay experiences, Tony Hawk's Pro Skater 1 and 2 will blend all the original levels, pro-skaters, old-school tricks and more that gamers remember from the '90s and '2000s with new, beautifully recreated levels. This faithful remaster will also include blockbuster songs from the original franchise. Dropping in on September 4, 2020, Tony Hawk's Pro Skater 1 and 2 will return remastered in one awesome package for PlayStation 4, PlayStation 4 Pro, the family of Xbox One devices from Microsoft, including the Xbox One X, and on PC through the Epic platform.

"The original Tony Hawk's Pro Skater series is a big factor in the evolution of modern skateboarding tricks and inspiring many of the pro skaters you know and love today," said Tony Hawk. "I'm excited to help inspire a new generation of skateboarders and gamers - and existing fans - to grow the sport even further."

Activision Blizzard, Inc. today announced first-quarter 2020 results. "Our goal to connect the world through epic entertainment is more important to our players than ever before," said Bobby Kotick, Chief Executive Officer of Activision Blizzard. "We delivered strong financial results for the first quarter, and are raising our full year outlook. I have been awestruck by the strength of our employees and their families during this difficult time. Whether managing healthcare or childcare, performing public service or community service, our teams around the world have shown ingenuity and resilience. In the face of so many difficulties, our employees have made certain that the joy, the engagement, and the benefits of gaming remain an effective way to help keep our 400 million players around the world connected and safe."

For the quarter ended March 31, 2020, Activision Blizzard's net revenues presented in accordance with GAAP were $1.79 billion, as compared with $1.83 billion for the first quarter of 2019. GAAP net revenues from digital channels were $1.44 billion, as compared with $1.39 billion for the first quarter of 2019. GAAP operating margin was 34%. GAAP earnings per diluted share were $0.65, as compared with $0.58 for the first quarter of 2019.

Blizzard Entertainment is set to bring a significant upgrade to World of Warcraft's graphics just in time for the next expansion. A new Ray Traced Shadow option was discovered by Jaydaa over at the Wowhead forums on the Shadowlands Alpha, the ray tracing settings can be viewed on the alpha but can't be enabled yet. When Blizzard enables Ray Tracing support, players with NVIDIA RTX graphics cards will be able to take advantage of more realistic shadows and lighting within the game. The screenshots show the option for three levels of ray tracing fidelity from fair to good and up to high which will each offer higher resolution and more detailed lighting.

NVIDIA's GeForce Now game streaming service has been a bit of a hit and miss lately, with some of the bigger publishers like Activision-Blizzard, Bethesda, and 2K games revoking availability of their digital game libraries on NVIDIA's service. Possible reasons for those events were unknown and the platform did suffer from it. Some speculations were that the publishers were going to switch their preferred online streaming service platform or build their own. So far it is still a mystery. However, it seems like there is no end to the pain, as some very big publishers decided to revoke their digital libraries as well.

Big names like Microsoft Xbox Game Studios, Warner Bros. Interactive Entertainment, Codemasters, and Klei Entertainment have all decided to stop offering their games on the GeForce Now game streaming platform. This is very much a major disappointment and another big setback to the platform, as now you can not play any of the titles from these publishers. Titles from the games series like Halo, Gears of War, Forza, Dirt Rally, Batman and many more, are now not available. It remains to be seen if these publishers announce a move to another streaming service, so we have to wait.

NVIDIA's GeForce NOW game-streaming service had been hit or miss lately depending on how you look at its current situation, given the fact that Activision-Blizzard removed its game catalog from the GeForce NOW service and the fact that CD Projekt RED announced that Cyberpunk 2077 will be present on the platform. Some moves like the one coming from Activision-Blizzard are taking a tole on the new game streaming platform, while others like the addition of Cyberpunk 2077 are giving the platform users hope to see it become a viable option.

To add to the pain, Bethesda Softworks, a maker of many popular titles such as the DOOM, Fallout, Wolfenstein, and The Elder Scrolls series, has decided to pull a big part of its game library from the NVIDIA GeForce NOW game streaming service. In another surprising turn of events, a part of NVIDIA staff announced that Bethesda Softworks will pull most of its games form the GeForce NOW platform, excluding Wolfenstein Youngblood, which will remain playable to give users a chance to experience it with "RTX on". We do not know why big publishers are pulling their game libraries form this platform, so we have to wait for more information in the future.