To celebrate the 20th anniversary of the successful Diablo franchise, Blizzard will be launching special in-game events and items in its other titles, specifically World of Warcraft, Hearthstone, Overwatch, StarCraft II, and Heroes of the Storm.
The cross-franchise content, which will launch on Dec. 31, on the 20th anniversary of the original Diablo release, will expand Blizzard's celebration of the milestone beyond the previously announced The Darkening of Tristram for Diablo III: Reaper of Souls.
Diablo Unleashed On Other Blizzard Games
A post on the Battle.net website revealed teasers on how Diablo will be coming to some of Blizzard's other popular franchises.
For World of Warcraft, Blizzard said that denizens of Sanctuary are coming into Azeroth but did not reveal further details on what exactly will happen in the popular MMORPG.
A new Tavern Brawl in Hearthstone, meanwhile, will have players face off against a hooded stranger with a mysterious new deck, and it is up to players to figure out the dark wanderer's secrets, whom fans know to be the corrupted hero of the first Diablo.
The Lord of Terror himself will be coming to Overwatch, though not as a playable character. Diablo will be added as a new player icon, and in addition, new sprays will be added that represent the classes of Diablo III.
Diablo will also be coming to StarCraft II, but not as a playable unit. Rather, the Lord of Terror will be added as a worker portrait, though it remains to be seen how Diablo will take it when commanded to perform tasks.
Lastly, for Heroes of the Storm, a new brawl map and a new player portrait will be added that will be inspired by Diablo.
As can be seen, Blizzard was very secretive on the details of how Diablo will be coming to other games, including how long the celebration will last. Fortunately for excited gamers, the wait to find out more about the cross-franchise events will not be long.
The Darkening of Tristram
As previously reported, the celebration for Diablo's 20th anniversary within Diablo III: Reaper of Souls would be through the event named The Darkening of Tristram.
The event, which will come as a free update to owners of Diablo III and the Reaper of Souls expansion pack, will allow players to replay the original Diablo game. The update features a reimagining of Diablo's cathedral as 16-level dungeon that includes the four main bosses of the original game, including Diablo himself.
To push the nostalgia factor, Blizzard will apply a grainy and pixelated filter for what the company calls "glorious retrovision," and like in the original Diablo, players entering the Cathedral will have their movements limited to eight directions.
