BlizzCon: Opening Ceremony (Live Updates)

Here are the highlights from the November 7th Opening Ceremony!

The BlizzCon opening ceremony begins today at 11am PT/2pm ET! We'll be live updating this article as the ceremony progresses, so keep checking back.

The ceremony has ended, check out everything below!


11:00am PT: Ceremony kicks off with opening video, looks back on history of Blizzard.

11:04am PT: CEO Mike Morhaime takes the stage to welcome everyone.

11:06am PT: Mike states (about recent harassment issues in the gaming industry) that "it's not right", that we should "take a stand to reject hate and harassment."

11:08am PT: "The best is coming to Warcraft"... talking about Warlords of Draenor launching in a few days. A documentary, "Looking For Group", will be presented at BlizzCon tomorrow at 5pm PT. Will also be available later on the WoW site.

11:10am PT: New WoW charity pet in December, 100% of proceeds go to Red Cross for Ebola relief efforts. Warcraft the movie... panel this afternoon. Sneak peeks of film on-site at BlizzCon. Promoting FightForTheHorde.com and FightForTheAlliance.com sites.

11:13am PT: Talking about the eSports competitions for HotS, Hearthstone and SCII. Showing video tournament action.

11:15am PT: New stuff! Heroes of the Storm is up first. New heroes: Jaina, Thrall; Sky Temple Battlegrounds, ranked play, Lost Vikings. Closed beta begins January 13, 2015.

11:18am PT: Hearthstone is next, presented by Jason Chayes.  Android tablets get Hearthstone this December. Going back to roots of Warcraft world.... "explosive first expansion" is Goblins vs Gnomes. Launches next month (December)!

11:23am PT: Dustin Browder on stage for StarCraft II. Showing video for Legacy of the Void. Everything comes to a conclusion in the final chapter of the trilogy. Legacy of the Void is a stand-alone product. Lurker mode returns, new Archon mode.

11:29am PT: Chris Metzen on stage. Hyping up the crowd.

11:32am PT: Chris talking about how long it's been since they've "opened the door to a new adventure." New cinematic -- Overwatch? Looks like a team match game.....

11:40am PT: Confirmed, Overwatch. "It is nearer than you think." -Chris

11:41am PT: Introduced Overwatch Game Director Jeff Kaplan. "Team-based multiplayer shooter that is completely action-packed." The game will be "completely approachable." Another movie being shown now.

11:48am PT: Video over. Beta is in 2015, sign up on PlayOverwatch.com. Panel today at 12:30pm PT (get that Virtual Ticket if you still don't have one!). Demo area at BlizzCon in Hall C for the game. Follow the game on Twitter: PlayOverwatch.

11:50am PT: Ceremony has ended! Thanks for joining us. :)

UPDATE: A recording of the entire 50 minute-long Opening Ceremony has been released!


Ann "Cyliena" Hosler, Managing Editor

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