Blizzard’s Older Games Are Getting New Content, but Support Remains Selective
Heroes of the Storm's first new hero in six years and a new Warcraft 3: Reforged campaign point to renewed attention, while Diablo 3 remains outside the revival.
Blizzard’s first reveal on the BlizzCon 2026 stage was Xal’atath, a new Heroes of the Storm character and the game’s first new hero in six years. The show also announced World of Warcraft: Forever, Diablo 5, and an open-world StarCraft shooter. Bringing an older game into that lineup is a concrete sign of renewed support, but not proof of a company-wide change.
Blizzard moved Heroes of the Storm to maintenance mode in 2022, as noted in its 2022 update. Xal’atath’s arrival marks a return to active development, though Blizzard has not shared a roadmap for what comes next. James Yen emphasized sustainability in a BlizzCon interview with Polygon, rather than promising a sweeping revival.
Warcraft 3: Reforged offers another sign of attention to Blizzard’s back catalog. Its 2020 launch drew criticism over the remastered visuals, missing multiplayer features, and the game’s overall polish. After several updates, Blizzard released Forsaken Kingdom, a full-length DLC campaign, over BlizzCon weekend. The $30 price has drawn pushback, and complaints tied to the original release remain.
Blizzard’s Diablo anniversary plans also show where that support has gone. Diablo 1: Resurrected, Diablo: Immortal, and Diablo 4 have received major updates this year for the series’ 30th anniversary. Diablo 4’s Season of Hell’s Legacy, for example, revisits characters, enemies, and locations from earlier games. Diablo 3, by contrast, entered unofficial maintenance mode shortly before Diablo 4 launched in 2023, with no new content in active development.
The question is less whether Blizzard can make a nostalgic announcement than whether its support continues after the anniversary spotlight fades. The company has put new content into some older games, but has stopped short of promising that this attention will become a lasting policy.
What would make Blizzard’s support for an older game feel like a lasting commitment to you? Keep up with how these revivals develop through X, Bluesky, YouTube, Instagram, Steam, and Telegram.
