It's time to soldier up because Black Ops is back! The series which has become the most played in Call of Duty history as well as a cultural phenomenon around the globe returns October 12th with the release of Call of Duty : Black Ops 4, a gritty, grounded, all-out combat experience. Black Ops 4 raises the bar for Multiplayer mode that increases tactical gameplay and player choice, along with the biggest Zombies offering ever with three full experiences at launch, and Blackout, where the Black Ops universe comes to life in a massive battle royale experience featuring iconic characters and locations from all four Black Ops games in a one-of-a-kind offering that is uniquely Black Ops. Published by Activision and developed by award-winning studio Treyarch, Call of Duty: Black Ops 4 transforms the established universe played by hundreds of millions of fans with the largest gameplay experience ever created in the series.

"Black Ops 4 gives our community more ways to have fun with their friends than anything Treyarch has ever created and introduces meaningful innovations to every element of the game, including next level tactical team-based multiplayer, the biggest zombies offering yet and Blackout, where the largest map in Call of Duty history brings together the rich universe of Black Ops," said Rob Kostich, EVP and GM, Call of Duty. "More than 200 million players have called Black Ops home, and they've played for more than 15 billion hours. This is an incredible community that has inspired the development team to take their innovative gameplay design to new heights."

Black Ops is back! In what represents a game-changing experience, Call of Duty: Black Ops 4 will revolutionize the top-selling series in Call of Duty history when it launches worldwide on Friday, October 12 for the PlayStation 4, Xbox One and PC. Call of Duty fans can tune in Thursday, May 17, when publisher Activision, a wholly owned subsidiary of Activision Blizzard (NASDAQ: ATVI), and award-winning developer Treyarch host the community reveal to a worldwide audience.

StarCraft officially turns 20 on March 31, 2018, and all throughout the month, we'll be celebrating this epic milestone alongside our epic community of players. Revisit the saga that introduced the world to iconic characters like Jim Raynor, Sarah Kerrigan, and Zeratul, and helped set the stage for esports as we know them today.

Activision Blizzard held their earnings call a couple of days ago where the company recorded a record-breaking year with $7.16 billion in revenue. According to the video game publisher's breakdown of their sources of income, player investment contributed to more than half of their annual revenue. Activision specifically used the term "in-game net bookings", which is nothing more than fancy jargon for microtransactions. The financial report revealed that Activision raked in $4 billion from microtransactions alone. Popular titles like Call of Duty: WWII, Overwatch, Destiny 2, Hearthstone, and World of Warcraft contain microtransactions where players can spend money on different cosmetic and other in-game items. However, Candy Crush maker King Digital Entertainment, acquired by Activision in 2015, was the strongest performer of 2017 contributing with a little over $2 billion through microtransactions.

A new great war between the Alliance and the Horde will erupt this summer and starting today, World of Warcraft players around the globe can seek out new champions to fight for their faction's cause. Blizzard Entertainment today announced that Battle for Azeroth, the next expansion to the world's most popular subscription-based massively multiplayer online role-playing game, is now available for pre-purchase at www.worldofwarcraft.com.

Players who pre-purchase Battle for Azeroth today can begin their journey to recruit four of the expansion's new Allied Races, each representing comrades they've fought alongside on the Broken Isles and Argus in the game's most recent expansion, Legion. Upon winning the respect of an Allied Race by completing quests and earning reputation, players will unlock the ability to create characters of that race and set out on a new adventure across Azeroth.† Alliance players can add the shadow-touched Void elves and valiant Lightforged draenei to their ranks, while members of the Horde will be able to bring the ancient Nightborne and noble Highmountain tauren into their faction's fold-with additional Allied Races to come in the future.

The title could be better, it's true, but it serves to point out this particular fact: Blizzard is seemingly developing a new, first-person game. The video-game experiences that come from the studio are usually top-notch in their respective areas - be it MMORPGs like World of Warcraft, competitive FPS titles such as Overwatch, or RTS games such as Starcraft, just to name a few. The studios' quality is pervasive in any IP it touches, and the idea of a new video-game form the company should be enough to appease the soul of gamers everywhere.

Through a job listing on its site, Blizzard has made public that it's looking for "a talented gameplay engineer to help create vehicles and build vehicle handling features in a robust first-person engine for an unannounced project." whether or not this unannounced project will be placed on one of Blizzard's existing IP or not is still up for grabs, but whether it's an adaptation of one of Blizzard's IPs, or the start of something new, Blizzard knows gamers' eyes are eagerly on them. Follow the source links if you think this unannounced project is something you'd like (and have the skills) to work on.

Activision Blizzard today announced the newest iteration in its award-winning in-game program to support the Call of Duty Endowment's efforts to help unemployed veterans find high-quality careers in the United States and United Kingdom. The Call of Duty: WWII - Call of Duty Endowment (C.O.D.E.) Bravery Pack (PS4/XboxOne/PC), developed by Sledgehammer Games, includes a special Call of Duty Endowment in-game helmet, calling card, and emblem.

The pack will be available for a suggested retail price of $4.99 in the in-game store and the Sony and Microsoft online stores. For the first time, a personalization pack benefitting the Call of Duty Endowment will also be available at all GameStop stores across the U.S. as well as online through BestBuy.com and Amazon.com. One hundred percent of the proceeds received by Activision through the Bravery Pack will directly fund the Endowment's mission to help veterans secure quality careers when they leave military service. More than 4,800 veterans have been placed in high quality jobs through Call of Duty personalization packs to-date, which is a brigade-sized group of vets.

Bungie and Activision Publishing, Inc., a wholly owned subsidiary of Activision Blizzard, Inc. (NASDAQ: ATVI), announced the introduction of the Destiny 2 Ghost Skill for Alexa, giving players of one of the best-selling video games of 2017 to date the first-ever Alexa voice integration in a live game experience. Revealed on stage by Tom Taylor, senior vice president, Amazon Alexa and Byron Beede, Activision's senior vice president of Product Management for Destiny at the AWS re:Invent 2017 conference in Las Vegas, Nevada, the Destiny 2 Ghost Skill, voiced by the in-game Ghost's voice actor Nolan North, is available now for Alexa customers to enable, free of charge, through the Alexa app.

The Destiny 2 Ghost Skill serves as a premier companion for Destiny 2 players, creating brand-new ways to interact with the game, players can say, "Alexa, ask Ghost to…" with a variety of utterances - from "…tell me which friends are online," to asking "…what should I do next?" giving recommendations for what to play next based on players' real-time current progress, to "…call for back up," which offers an easy way to interact with friends in their clan to enhance the social experience of Destiny 2, to "… equip my Raid loadout," equipping players' favorite weapons and armor for a number of different gameplay activities, to learning more about the world and characters of Destiny 2 with a request like, "…tell me who are the Red Legion?"

The holiday season is almost here-get ready to spread some epic cheer! From now through November 27, 2017, we're offering some big savings around Black Friday on the following digital purchases for World of Warcraft, Overwatch, Heroes of the Storm, and Destiny 2-plus some Blizzard Gear Store goodies. Snag a little something for yourself, or send a gift to a friend.

Overwatch
Whether you're a soldier, scientist, adventurer, or oddity, you can jump into the fight for the future with savings of 50% on the digital versions of Overwatch and Overwatch: Game of the Year Edition for Windows PC.

• Overwatch includes 26 heroes, 21 different maps, and endless fun for just $19.99 (reg. $39.99).
• Overwatch: Game of the Year Edition includes all the excitement of Overwatch along with 10 Loot Boxes, five special hero skins, plus in-game goodies for Heroes of the Storm, World of Warcraft, Diablo III, and StarCraft II for $29.99 (reg. $59.99).

According to Belgium's VTM Nieuws, the Chancellor Commission from that country has opened an investigation into both Overwatch and Star Wars Battlefront II loot crates, so as to rule whether or not these constitute gambling. Loot boxes being compared to gambling isn't a new debate, but up until now, a clear ruling that characterizes loot crates as such still hasn't made its way onto the courts or commissions that have been looking into these issues. That loot crates and other microtransactions are resounding successes in ever increasing monetization of game experiences is no secret: Digital River has released a report that stated microtransactions and the whole "Games as a Service" model has tripled the industry's value.

EA has been receiving a lot of flak for the way they implemented their loot boxing mechanics in Star Wars Battlefront II, which has led to repeated cycles of posturing, bullying, and ultimately some small steps backward for the company, regarding its initial stance on Battlefront II's specific implementation. Already has the company decreased costs for unlocking characters in-game, though some are reporting that for players to unlock everything the $60 game supposedly offers, they'd have to play it for at least 4,528 hours - or pony-up $2,100 to unlock all the base content.

The battle against the Legion has left the world broken-but the shattered trust between the Alliance and the Horde could prove the hardest wound to mend. Blizzard Entertainment today unveiled plans for World of Warcraft: Battle for Azeroth, a new expansion to the company's acclaimed massively multiplayer online role-playing game that will test players' resolve as they champion their faction's cause in a devastating new war.

In Battle for Azeroth, the fall of the Burning Legion has set off a series of disastrous incidents that reignites the furious rivalry between the noble Alliance and the mighty Horde. As a new age of warfare begins, Azeroth's heroes must set out on a harrowing journey in search of new allies, race to claim the world's mightiest resources to turn the tides of war, and fight on several fronts to determine which side will lead Azeroth into its uncertain future.

The interstellar battle between the terran, zerg, and protoss is about to consume even more of the galaxy, as Blizzard Entertainment today announced that the ultimate real-time strategy game will soon be free to play.

Beginning November 14, players around the world will get free access to the full award-winning Wings of Liberty campaign and the elite multiplayer competition of StarCraft II's ranked ladder, including all the latest units and balance updates through the latest release in the series, Legacy of the Void. Players will also enjoy expanded access to StarCraft II's highly popular co-op mode, with all Co-op Commanders playable for free.

Tech leaders HP Inc. and Intel today joined forces with Blizzard Entertainment in major Overwatch League sponsorship deals that represent an extended investment in the groundbreaking professional league. As part of the multiyear agreements, Intel will sponsor future Overwatch competitive events in addition to the Overwatch League. Players taking part in these events will be equipped with cutting-edge gaming hardware from both HP and Intel. HP, and more specifically, its OMEN by HP gaming PCs and displays will be used exclusively for Overwatch League games, with PCs powered by Intel Core i7 processors.

"We're thrilled to be joining forces with HP and Intel to ensure that the teams competing professionally in Overwatch are equipped with top-end technology," said Pete Vlastelica, president & CEO of Blizzard Entertainment's Major League Gaming division. "Multiyear collaborations such as this illustrate the momentum behind the Overwatch League as well as a long-term commitment by us and our partners in what we see as the future of esports."

Blizzard, best known for their Starcraft, Warcraft, and Diablo series (who are also responsible for that phenomenon World of Warcraft), has recently announced they are going to cut back support for older Windows-based operating systems. Resource allocation is a real problem; the opportunity cost of having engineers working on ensuring that their most recent updates and recent remasters aren't breaking support for older operating systems always comes at the cost of work on newer OSes.

As such, in a blog post on their forums, Blizzard has announced that starting in October of this year, "we will begin the process of ending support for Windows XP and Windows Vista in World of Warcraft, StarCraft II, Diablo III, Hearthstone, and Heroes of the Storm." They went on to explain this decision, in that "Microsoft ceased mainstream support for these versions of Windows in 2009 and 2012, respectively, but since a decent portion of our audience was still using them at the time, we continued supporting them. However, there have been three major Windows releases since Vista, and at this point, the vast majority of our audience has upgraded to one of the newer versions." And if you're thinking that this isn't true end of life for these systems when it comes to Blizzard game support, think again: "The games will not run on these older operating systems once they are no longer supported, so we encourage any players who are still using one of the older OSes to upgrade to a newer version. We'll be rolling out this change on a staggered schedule, and will post further notices as we get closer to making the change for each game."

After announcing their Starcraft remaster to fans (for free, I might add), which will count with remastered graphics, dialogue and audio, whilst keeping the original Starcraft play and feel, it seems that Blizzard is now looking towards remastering two of their other successful franchises. Diablo 2 stands as one of PC gaming's most recognized entries, helping pave the way for mainstream gaming and dice rolls. And Warcraft 3, while a tad less successful than the company's subsequent World of Warcraft phenomenon, still stands as a well-aged RTS entry (I remember seeing the CG cutscenes for the game at my local FNAC store at the time of its release and I was absolutely mesmerized.)

The clues pointing towards the Diablo 2, Warcraft 3 remasters come courtesy of Blizzard themselves, though not in a bells and whistles-covered announcement that one might expect. Instead, these come as job posts on Blizzard's Careers page. namely, Blizzard says "Compelling stories. Intense multiplayer. Endless replayability. Qualities that made StarCraft, Warcraft III, and Diablo II the titans of their day. (...) We're restoring them to glory, and we need your engineering talents, your passion, and your ability to get tough jobs done." And: "Classic Games is looking for a renaissance designer to harmonize that which was, with that which will be. Warcraft, StarCraft, and Diablo await your machinations." It is unclear as of now whether these remasters will be free or not at time of release. Starcraft was, but while history tends to repeat itself, it really sometimes doesn't. So there you have it. What do you think of this renaissance/remastering?

Bungie's space-opera extraordinaire (well, let's hope it is so) Destiny 2 will apparently offer a great level of support for us PC enthusiasts. It has been confirmed through the hands-on portion after yesterday's live-stream that the game will offer some PC-centric features, including support for up to 4K resolutions, ultra-widescreen support, an adjustable FOV, and uncapped frame-rates for those of you who like to live on the edge. These features, however, make it likely that cross-play between PC, XBOX and PlayStation versions of the game won't be possible, if the added speed and precision of the mice and keyboard options over their gamepad counterparts wasn't enough already. Additionally, it has been confirmed that the game will be distributed through Blizzard (formerly Battle.net), which makes a resounding business sense. Why would Activision distribute its game through Steam, having its profits capped by 30%, when they already have the infrastructure to support a game of this magnitude? Sadly, it has been confirmed that the PC version will be delayed, not being launched on September 8th like the console versions.

There was already some hands-on time with Destiny 2's PC version yesterday. While the PC requirements for the game have not yet been released, I think we can interpret the systems on offer at the stage as an overkill approach to it: the systems featured an Intel Core i7-7700K, 16 GB of Ram, an NVIDIA GTX 1080 Ti graphics card, a 500 GB SSD, and Windows 10, which powered an Acer Predator XB271HK monitor (4K, IPS, G-Sync screen.) Though the fact the game was running at over 60 FPS on 4K with the above configuration does speak to relatively mild performance requirements.

It's never fun to be contacted by a legal department and be told that something you bought online is not rightfully yours. Still, this occasionally does happen in the case of intellectual property that has been misplaced and is not supposed to be resold. Example: The case of Reddit user Khemist49, who found himself in possession of a CD-ROM claiming to be the original source code for the game "StarCraft." Where did he get said disc? A box of "old Blizzard-related stuff" he bought on Ebay in April. Thinking he had something special, he posted on Reddit asking what to do with it.

In 1998, I wasn't a StarCraft guy. My Packard Bell 486DX 8MB wonder that my parents refused to upgrade couldn't run it. That thing wouldn't do a merciful "fall-on-its-sword" act like all the other Packard Bells in the neighborhood either. The thing insisted on surviving until almost 2004 when my parents finally took it to the dump. I personally, got out of that hell in 2001 when I built my own system with an Athlon Thunderbird 1Ghz chip and a lofty 512MBs of ram, but StarCraft was never really my thing.

Now, the jokes on you, suckers, cause I can download it for free!

Blizzard announced that support for several of its popular titles in Windows XP and Vista will be ending later this year. These titles include World of Warcraft, StarCraft II, Diablo III, Hearthstone, and Heroes of the Storm.

Dropping support for these platforms makes sense from an economic standpoint. As a platform ages, it becomes increasingly hard to make software work with it without making it difficult to support modern technology and features. Windows XP in particular doesn't support above DirectX 9, severely limiting the abilities of a developer wishing to take advantage of modern graphics and effects. Vista, on the other hand, supports up to DirectX 11, but has such limited market share as to make it statistically irrelevant (XP market share hovers at slightly less than 10%, while Vista market share doesn't even register, according to netmarketshare.com).Source: HardOCP

BlizzCon 2015 - Razer, a world leader in connected devices and software for gamers, and Blizzard Entertainment, developer and publisher of some of the industry's most epic games, today announced a full suite of Chroma-enabled PC gaming peripherals based on Blizzard's upcoming team-based shooter, Overwatch.

Set in an all-new Blizzard game universe, Overwatch is a 6v6 first-person shooter featuring a vibrant cast of heroes, each with his or her own unique arsenal of weapons and abilities. As part of its official Overwatch gaming peripheral collection, Razer is enhancing the award-winning DeathAdder Chroma gaming mouse, BlackWidow Chroma keyboard and Goliathus Extended mouse mat with Overwatch game elements on the hardware.

EVGA announces the Heroes of the Storm Kaijo Diablo Bundle with select EVGA GeForce GTX 950 and GeForce GTX 960 graphics cards. For a limited time, begin your conquest of Blizzard's Heroes of the Storm with an exclusive Kaijo Diablo Bundle. It includes the Diablo hero, Kaijo skin, and 7-day Stim Pack, and it's free when you purchase a qualifying GeForce GTX 950 or 960 graphics card.

For MOBA gamers, the EVGA GeForce GTX 950 provides the competitive edge in every battle with blazing fast performance and an incredible level of responsiveness. Get 3x the performance of a GeForce GTX 650 and the power of NVIDIA Maxwell architecture to transform your PC into a full-HD gaming rig capable of playing the latest titles. Or choose the EVGA GeForce GTX 960 for even faster performance.

MSI MGA (Masters Gaming Arena), a globally renowned eSports tournament formerly known as MSI Beat IT and hosted by the leading gaming brand, MSI, has partnered with ESL and will be ready to launch its 6th culmination as the months approach. Eric Kuo, MSI Vice President of Global Sales & Marketing, talks about renaming the annual gaming tournament from Beat IT to Masters Gaming Arena, "The rename marks our determination to evolve and do even better as one of the world's leading gaming brands. Years of MSI Beat IT gaming legacy will be carried on in the name of Masters Gaming Arena. MSI's gaming spirit and unflinching devotion to eSports live on. MSI MGA will continue to bring global players together and hand in hand we'll write thrilling chapters in the gaming history!"

MSI MGA will kick off with regional qualifiers for the United States, Europe and Asia. The first qualifier will start in June for Asia, with subsequent weeks covering the rest of the regions across the globe. The 4-day Grand Finals will be held in late August in the United States, where the best gamers from all around the world will compete over more than $200,000 USD in cash prizes and travel support.

SteelSeries the global leader in premium gaming peripherals, in collaboration with Blizzard Entertainment, today announced the exclusive SteelSeries Heroes of the Storm Mouse and QcK Mousepad. While going toe to toe with the most legendary characters of the Blizzard universe, gamers will have the ultimate precision tool to ensure total domination while flaunting exclusive artwork created by the Heroes of the Storm team.

"Heroes of the Storm has been such a highly anticipated title that we were excited to create a product exclusively for the game. We knew that Blizzard and players would want a mouse designed for versatility and that would evoke the aesthetics from within the game," said Tino Soelberg, SteelSeries CTO. "The SteelSeries Engine is such an important component of this mouse in that players can save an unlimited number of profiles and settings for each that would reflect the type of character you're playing; assigning illumination settings to each of your profiles to differentiate between characters is another way the mouse can enhance gameplay."

Turtle Beach, the leading audio brand in the games industry, today announced a new multi-year licensing agreement with Blizzard Entertainment around the highly anticipated Heroes of the Storm multiplayer game. As part of the agreement, Turtle Beach will develop PC gaming headsets for both elite and recreational players. Turtle Beach is the gaming audio brand of Parametric Sound Corporation.

Heroes of the Storm is a new raucous online team brawler that draws iconic characters from more than 20 years of Blizzard gaming history, including the award-winning Warcraft, Diablo, and StarCraft franchises. Heroes of the Storm is uniquely positioned to deliver exciting competitive play, thanks to its team-oriented gameplay mechanics and its fast-paced skirmishes.

Blizzard Entertainment's StarCraft II World Championship Series Europe Season 3 has just commenced, with ROCCAT as the new sponsor. The round of 32 features some of the world's best StarCraft II pro gamers split into eight groups fighting online for a spot in the round of 16, which will take place live in Cologne beginning September 24. The competitors' ultimate goal is to participate in the WCS Global Final later this year, held at BlizzCon in Anaheim on November 8-9. With a total prize pool of $1.6 million USD in 2013, the WCS is one of the world's top eSports leagues.

René Korte, founder and CEO of ROCCAT, said: "This sponsorship further underlines our strong connection to professional gaming and the eSports community. As the flagship StarCraft II competition, the WCS is one of the most important eSports events in the world, with a strong presence in various online channels. We feel that this is the perfect environment to present ROCCAT as a brand, and the high-speed, highly competitive nature of StarCraft II at pro level is a great showcase for our products."