Starcraft 2: Legacy of the Void, Hearthstone expansion and other Blizzcon 2014 announcements

Blizzcon, the favorite time of the year for any die hard Blizzard fan is literally just around the corner. Thus far, we know that the company plans to host several eSports tournaments, some cosplay contests, and even a Metallica concert, but what about any game related announcements? As you might imagine, Blizzard has been quiet in regards to this particular aspect as these announcements are intended to be a surprise. However, the company did tease a couple of things these last few days, presumably in an attempt to get the hype train rolling. One tease is related to Starcraft 2 and comes from the game’s Soundcloud profile where Blizzard uploaded a couple of new sound clips some days ago. Legacy of the Void? Perhaps, although the clips don’t seem to hint at the expansion directly as they do not feature Protoss sounds, or so it would seem.

There are two clips on Soundcloud, one featuring Zerg noises while the other has Terran sounds. In addition, there is also a third clip that’s hidden and will only play after listening to any of the other two. This hidden clip features some very distinct Protoss sounds that are reminiscent of those made by a Probe, although there seem to be some new noises as well. In any case, it sounds mechanical, so my guess is that it’s hinting at a new Legacy of the Void mech unit. Another interesting thing about these sound clips is that they form a message of sorts. The message is “See you at….” Blizzcon 2014? Most likely. So, chances are pretty good that Starcraft 2: Legacy of the Void will be unveiled this weekend based on this tease. What’s more, it’s been more than a year and a half since Heart of the Swarm came out, so as mister Tychus Findlay would say: “Hell, it’s about time.”

Aside from Legacy of the Void, we can also expect Blizzard to announce the next expansion for Hearthstone at Blizzcon 2014. This is not based on a tease from Blizzard themselves, but rather on a recently uncovered trademark filling for something called Eye of Azshara. If you’re a World of Warcraft player, that name might ring a bell as Azshara is an area that can be found in Kalimdor. Moreover, it’s also the name of an ancient Elven queen, so all signs point to the Warcraft universe. Hearthstone is based on this universe so Eye of Azhara could very well be the name of its next expansion. Then again, it could also be the name of the next World of Warcraft expansion, although it’s a little soon for that considering that Warlords of Draenor isn’t even out yet.

In any case, Blizzard revealed last month that they are working on a new expansion for Hearthstone that will include over one hundred new cards, so we can at least be certain that it’s eventually coming even if we don’t know its name yet. The company has also teased an announcement related to Hearthstone recently by sending cards depicting various contraptions to several news outlets. The images include a Repair Bot, a Demolisher, a Harvest Golem and a Poultryizer. All these contraptions are already present in Hearthstone so I assume that Blizzard was hinting at an announcement related to goblins and machinery. Not sure how these things fit in with Aszhara, but we’re bound to learn more this weekend at Blizzcon 2014.

So, we have Starcraft 2: Legacy of the Void and an important announcement about Hearthstone, which may or may not be related to an upcoming expansion. What else? I haven’t heard anything about Diablo 3, so I guess that we’re not likely to hear anything new regarding this game. Aside from that, rumor has it that Blizzard will add Warcraft 3 to the Battle.net app, which means that the game might also receive an overhaul to make it look less…2002-ish. Last but not least, Blizzard filled a trademark for “Overwatch” earlier this year, but there are no additional details as of yet. It was speculated that this might be a brand new IP, however, the listing doesn’t appear under the software category so it’s probably not going be a game at all. Whatever it is, we’ll find out more at Blizzcon 2014 and we’ll make sure to tell you all about it, so stay tuned.