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BlizzConline Dates Announced!

The dates for an online BlizzCon have been announced for February 19-20! More details will come at a later date, but a Cosplay Exhibition, Cosplay Contest, Art Contest, Digital Storytelling Contest, Talent Spotlight, and digital March of the Murlocs event have all been confirmed.

 

Originally Posted by Blizzard Entertainment (Official Post)

 

Attune your chronometers, flip your hourglasses, set a notification on your phone—however you mark the passage of time, save the date for BlizzConline™, set to take place February 19–20, 2021!

While circumstances are keeping us from gathering in person this year, we’re putting together a little something early next year to channel the spirit of BlizzCon into the form of an online show. We still have a lot of planning to do, and it’ll be some time before we’re ready to share more details—but we wanted to provide a heads-up on how you can be a part of the online fun.

Gear Up for the Community Showcase

One of the events we’re planning for BlizzConline is the Community Showcase—an opportunity for cosplay crafters, artists, and other community creators to participate in the show and put their talent on display through a mix of world-class competition and exciting exhibitions. And thanks to the all-online nature of the show, we’re able to make these events accessible to even more people from around the globe. We’re also assembling a special March of the Murlocs and inviting everyone to send us images and videos to join in.

 

If you’re interested in participating in the March of the Murlocs or the Community Showcase, please be mindful of the appropriate health guidelines for any group-based photos, videos, and other submissions. Read on to discover what you need to know to begin your preparation!

Cosplay Exhibition | Cosplay Contest | Art Contest |
Digital Storytelling Contest | Talent Spotlight | March of the Murlocs

 

Cosplay Exhibition

Entry Deadline: January 4, 2021

 

Are you someone who enjoys regularly attending conventions in cosplay? Or maybe you’re looking for the right opportunity to get started on your own cosplay-crafting journey? Either way, the Cosplay Exhibition is for you! This just-for-fun showcase of original cosplay from Blizzard’s universes is open to people of all levels of skill, whether you’re a seasoned veteran, a casual cosplayer, or somewhere in between.

 

The all-online format also gives us a chance to do something we haven’t been able to before: invite the animal kingdom onto the virtual stage! So if you fancy dressing up your fuzzy friends and want to show off your dog, cat, or other critter, we’d love to see your pet cosplay as well.

 

We’ll be showing off original exhibition submissions during the online show—so simply send us photos and videos you’d like to be considered, and you may spot yourself (or your animal pal) onscreen next February.

 

For guidelines on how to properly submit your cosplay for consideration, what we’re looking for in terms of quality, and other important criteria, make sure to read the complete official rules.

Official Rules  |  Register

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Cosplay Contest

Entry Deadline: January 4, 2021

The cosplay contest is always one of the highlights of BlizzCon—and even if we won’t be sharing a physical stage together, we still want to give top-notch cosplay creators a chance to showcase their skills in the virtual spotlight.

The BlizzConline Cosplay Contest will feature four categories:

• Best Blizzard Character – Recognizing outstanding interpretations of iconic heroes and villains from the worlds of Diablo, Hearthstone, Heroes of the Storm, Overwatch, StarCraft, and Warcraft.
• Best Blizzard Weapons & Armor – Recognizing the exemplary craftsmanship that goes into building epic, battlefield-worthy gear.
• Best Modern Creation – Recognizing expertise in working with materials such as foams and plastics, and incorporating 3D printing, electronics, and technology.
• Best Traditional Creation – Recognizing masterful skill in working with materials such as fabric, leather, metal, and wood.

Our judges will determine one winner in each of the four categories—and from among those, they’ll also determine one overall best cosplay winner, all of whom will be revealed to the world during the BlizzConline broadcast. (Note that you do not need to choose which categories you want to be considered for—the judges will determinate that as part of the judging process.)

Because the contest is taking place entirely online, the videos and photos you send may be displayed as part of the show, so keep that in mind when you’re prepping your entries.

For guidelines on how to properly submit your entry, what level of quality is acceptable, and other important criteria, make sure to read the complete official rules.

Official Rules  |  Register

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Art Contest

Entry Deadline: January 4, 2021

We’re putting out a call for your original artwork for the BlizzConline Art Contest! Whether you’re painting a valiant hero, sculpting an iconic villain, illustrating a memorable moment from inside your game (or out), this is your chance to shine a spotlight on your artistic talent. If you’re looking for something to spark your creativity, Blizzard’s 30th anniversary is this February, so consider drawing on your skills to mark the occasion.

Prizes will be awarded to first-, second-, and third-place works of art, and winners will be featured in a segment during the BlizzConline broadcast. Check out the official rules below, and click the Enter button to submit your entry.

Official Rules  |  Register

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Digital Storytelling Contest

Entry Deadline: January 4, 2021

The Digital Storytelling Contest invites aspiring digital filmmakers and moviemaking auteurs to create an original, story-driven short based on Blizzard’s game universes. As with the Art Contest, we’re inviting you to draw inspiration from across 30 years of Blizzard history. That could mean retelling an epic story with your own spin; imagining a collision of iconic characters from different times or universes; or exploring wherever your creativity takes you. Your short can feature live action, animation, in-game footage, or a mix of all three.

Prizes will go to first-, second-, and third-place winners, and the world will get the opportunity to watch your story unfold during the BlizzConline broadcast.

For requirements around maximum running time, file size and format, and other important criteria for submission, read the official rules.

Official Rules  |  Register

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Talent Spotlight

Entry Deadline: January 4, 2021

The Talent Spotlight is a chance to celebrate the wide range of unique talents and extraordinary abilities of the Blizzard community worldwide. We’re inviting original acts (solo or group) to showcase their special talent—musical, physical, magical, whimsical, or otherwise.

To be considered for this online exhibition, simply submit a video of you or your group performing, singing, dancing, or doing whatever it is you do, and you may be selected to be featured on the BlizzConline broadcast. Please be mindful of the appropriate health guidelines for any group-based performance.

For requirements around maximum running time, file size and format, and other important criteria for submission, read the official rules.

Official Rules  |  Register

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March of the Murlocs

Entry Deadline: January 4, 2021

If you’ve attended BlizzCon in the past couple of years, you may have encountered a particularly peculiar procession, as hundreds of people masquerading as murlocs paraded through the convention halls. In honor of that grand tradition-in-the-making, we’re inviting you to participate in a virtual March of the Murlocs for BlizzConline!

To be considered, simply send us a photo or video (30–60 seconds in length, and ideally filmed horizontally) of you walking, marching, or dancing dressed up as a murloc (or your own imaginative interpretation).

We’re also welcoming photos or video of murlocs marching in-game, so gather up your fish-minded guilds and allies and show us what you mrgrlglgrrl!

 

Official Rules  |  Register

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Keep the deadlines above in mind as you get to work—and if you have any questions about the contests or exhibitions, you can reach out to us at BlizzConCommunityShowcase@blizzard.com.

We can’t wait to see what you create—and maybe even share it with the world during BlizzConline!

Diablo III On Xbox 'Free Play Days'

Diablo III is free to play on Xbox through September 13th! This promotion is only available to Xbox Live Gold subscribers, and does not include the Rise of the Necromancer pack. It's worth mentioning that anyone with Xbox Game Pass Ultimate also has Xbox Live Gold, and new Game Pass Ultimate subscribers can try the service for $1.

 

Challenge Rift - Week 168

Challenge Rift Week 168 is live! This week the Challenge Rift features three Crusader builds! If you are curious how Challenge Rift builds are chosen each week, you can view this official blog post!

 

Double Bounties For Remainder Of Season 21

Starting today, bounties will be doubled in Diablo III until the end of Season 21! Additionally, PTR testing timelines will be extended going forward so that the team can collect as much feedback as possible and make changes before patches go live.

 

Originally Posted by FilthieRich (Official Post)

Hello everyone –

 

The trials this season brings upon a new event for the community. Starting from 11am PT today and through the end of Season 21, all bounties will be doubled. What does this exactly entail? All Horadric Caches earned from bounties will be doubled. This means that each time you complete bounties in an Act, you will now receive two Horadric Caches as opposed to just one. Double the bounty rewards!

 

There are a few things to keep in mind with this effect:

 

• The bonus cache does benefit from difficulty level; it is essentially as though you completed twice the bounties.
• The rewards inside the Horadric Caches are otherwise unaffected; drop rates or the amount of individual rewards have not been altered.

The bonus cache earned from Challenge Rifts is not affected; this is a separate type of cache.

 

Check out our Game Guide for a list of bounty-exclusive Legendary items and more information on the Bounty system.

 

On top of this, we would like to note that we plan on extending PTR testing timelines prior to each new season going forward. This will result in a slightly extended season, and will allow for 2 weeks of PTR testing for the community along with an additional week for the team to implement and work feedback/changes in before the season begins. The intention here is to make sure we can apply as much feedback as possible from the community during these PTR timelines while also giving us a good amount of time to test these changes before they go live.

Thanks again. Happy slaying!

Immortal 2020 Mid-Year Update

Lead Designer Wyatt Cheng has updated the community with a development update on Diablo: Immortal!
 

Originally Posted by Wyatt Cheng(Official Post)

 

Greetings Diablo Immortal Community! 
 

It’s been a little while since you’ve heard from us, so we wanted check in and share an update on how development has been progressing for Diablo Immortal. We have seen many burning questions about the status of development on Diablo Immortal and rest assured, the team has been hard at work. 

 

 

 

We have transitioned to working from home, the team is still making good progress, and we are delighted to be marching toward key development milestones. One of the most important milestones for every new game at Blizzard is the internal company playtest. Blizzard is full of passionate gamers with a diverse range of playstyles and gaming tastes—the internal company playtest allows the development team to access that deep well of feedback.  

 

 

 

The Diablo Immortal team is eager to see how our Blizzard colleagues around the world experience our game. From the very first login to choosing a Legendary item to perfectly complement your build, we’ll be soliciting feedback to guide our decisions as we iterate on the game before it goes beyond Blizzard’s walls. In our quest to reimagine what is possible on mobile, we want to make sure the game delivers authentic Diablo combat with traditional Blizzard polish in a way that is natively intuitive on the platform. 

 

 

 

Once our playtest concludes, the team will focus on working through the feedback. This milestone is crucial to our team because we want to ensure that Diablo Immortal is the best experience for our players when we’re ready to share it with the world. Getting the game into the hands of more of us at Blizzard is a major step toward getting it into yours.

 

 

Diablo Immortal is coming together, and we can’t wait to share more details about our ongoing testing and release plans as development progresses. On a personal note, I also wanted to take a moment to thank you for your continued support and patience. On behalf of the Diablo Immortal team, we are grateful that you have been on this journey with us so far and we appreciate all of the interest for our game. Know that the minions of hell are hard at work and we can’t wait to show you everything we’ve been doing when the time is right. 

 

--Wyatt Cheng
Lead Designer, Diablo Immortal Team 

 

Full Scholomance Academy Card List

Our friends over at Hearthpwn have the full list of Scholomance Academy Cards and all the details for Hearthstone's latest expansion! Be sure to visit this page if you're interested in what the new expansion has to offer!

 

New Diablo Themed Gear Available From SDCC Celebration

The Blizzard Gear Store is hosting a "San Diego Comic Con At Home" celebration where fans can buy new swag from all of the major Blizzard franchises. You can expect to see new set Diablo themed items on the Gear Store, including some new shirts, hoodies, art, and a Diablo IV collector's pin.

 

 Latest News From Diablo IV Team In New Update!

 Season 21 Mega-Post!

Challenge Rift - Week 160

Challenge Rift Week 160 is live! This week the Challenge Rift features three very different Witch Doctor builds! If you are curious how Challenge Rift builds are chosen each week, you can view this official blog post!

 

 Latest News From Diablo IV Team In New Update!  New In-Game Wings For Diablo III Diablo II Retrospective New Lord Of Terror Bust

 Season 21: Trials of Tempests

    Season 21 introduces the Trial of Tempests theme! For the duration of Season 21, your character will occasionally (every 90 seconds) channel an elemental power which unleashes into the environment for a limited time. These elemental powers are:

• Rain meteors from the skies around you.
• Breathe lightning.
• Summon a wall of flame.
• Release twisters of pure energy.
• Crush your foes under the weight of rolling snowballs.

  Season 21 begins on Friday, July 3rd at 5:00pm in each region. Season 21 goes live on all Consoles world wide at 5:00pm PDT, the same time as PC in North America. For timezone conversion, visit this site!                                                                                      

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Table of Contents

• Season 21: Trial of Tempests
• Discord Server
• Haedrig's Gift & Seasonal Rewards
• Seasonal Conquests
• Season 21 Starter Guides
• Level With A Cause
• Challenge Rift Week 158
• Patch 2.6.9 Notes

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 DiabloFans Discord

Join us on our Discord server! It's the perfect place for finding people to group with, get your questions answered, and stay up to date on the latest news! You can join our server by clicking on the banner below, or by going here!    If you don't use Discord you're missing out, but you can also find people to play with by using our forums!     

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 Haedrig's Gift & Seasonal Rewards

Completing Chapters 2, 3, and 4 of the Seasonal Journey will reward you with three of Haedrig’s Gifts. Each Gift contains a few pieces from one of your Class Sets. Players can only unlock one Class Set in this manner per Season across Hardcore and Non-Hardcore, so choose wisely!   The set you will receive depends on the class of the character you’re playing when you open each Haedrig’s Gift. To collect a full Class Set, you’ll need to open all three on the same character.   Here are the sets granted by Haedrig’s Gift in Season 21:  

• Barbarian – Might of the Earth
  
• Crusader – Thorns of the Invoker
  
• Demon Hunter – The Shadow's Mantle
  
• Monk – Monkey King's Garb
  
• Necromancer – Grance of Inarius
  
• Witch Doctor – Rainment of the Jade Harvester
  
• Wizard – Firebird's Finery
  

  In Season 17, Blizzard began re-introducing previous Seasonal rewards to make them available to players who may have missed them the first time around. This means that for Season 21, awards originally available from Season 9 are returning to the Season Journey.     Blizzard is continuing to provide new End of Journey rewards as was introduced in Season 17, with two new cosmetic rewards for those who complete the entirety of the Season Journey. These rewards will be the Stupendous Contraption pet and the Industrial Portrait Frame.    

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 Seasonal Conquests

 Want to prepare your Conquests plans for Season 21? Here are all the conquests you'll face this season!  

• Guardian of Sanctuary: Finish a level 70 Nephalem Rift on Torment XIII difficulty within 5 minutes.
• Gem of My Life: Level three Legendary Gems to level 55.
• All I Do is Win: Complete 2 Conquests this Season.
• Lose Yourself: Kill the Skeleton King at level 70 in under 30 seconds on Torment XIII difficulty.
• Money Ain’t a Thang: Slay Greed on Torment XIII difficulty. Treasure Goblins outside of Nephalem Rifts will sometimes open portals to Greed’s domain, The Vault.
• Take U There: Reach Greater Rift Level 60 Solo. Greater Rift keystones can be obtained from any Nephalem Rift guardian.
• Power Amplification: Use Kanai’s Cube to augment an Ancient Legendary item with a level 50+ gem.
• Cubic Reconfiguration: Use Kanai’s Cube to reforge a Legendary item.

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 Season 21 Starter Guides

Any players looking to level quickly and get the best start to Season 21 should browse the selection of starter guides from various content creators below! If you're looking for a level 1 blood shard gambling guide, AlexRaEU previously posted a comprehensive spreadsheet on the r/Diablo Subreddit!

Season 21 Class Starter Guides from Bluddshed:

• Barbarian 
• Crusader 
• Demon Hunter 
• Monk 
• Necromancer 
• Witch Doctor 
• Wizard 

 Ultimate Seasonal Starter Guide:

 

Seasonal Leveling Guides:

Master theory-crafter sVr recently uploaded a very advanced leveling strategy last season that utilizes Necromancers, Cursed Chests, and huge killstreaks to reach level 70 in just over 50 minutes. We do not suggest this method for new players, and only players looking to min-max their leveling experience with like-minded players should try this. This method was made slightly easier in Season 21 due to the increased damage to Corpse Explosion and the Grasps of the Essence. Additionally, diabloseasons.com is a great resource for any average player looking reach level 70 quickly!      

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Level With A Cause

Level With A Cause (#LWAC), a coalition of streamers from the Diablo 3 community, will be uniting once again for a charity fundraising event during the first three days of the Season 21 opening weekend in Diablo 3. This marks the team’s 11th event over the last few years. Several Diablo 3 community members will be holding live-streams during this weekend in support of this charity drive. During these live-streams, viewers will be able to donate to the SaveTheChildren charity organization. 

Level With A Cause was founded prior to the start of Season 11 of Diablo 3 and has been a mainstay of the opening weekend of each new season since that time. The LWAC team has raised over $60,000 to date for deserving charities such as Save The Children, St Jude Children’s Research Hospital, and Take This. LWAC hopes to continue to grow and raise even more money for charities in the future. If you are a streamer looking to participate, more info can be found on the LWAC website. As a viewer, you can simply search for LWAC within stream titles on Twitch during the July 3rd to 5th event. ​ In the U.S. and around the world, Save The Children gives children a healthy start in life, the opportunity to learn and protection from harm. When crisis strikes, they are always among the first to respond and the last to leave. They do whatever it takes to save children, transforming their lives and the future we share.   You can donate to the Level With a Cause charity event here! ​  

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Challenge Rift - Week 158

Challenge Rift Week 158 is live! Because Season 21 begins this Friday, we advise that you DO NOT complete the challenge rift until after you've made your seasonal character! This week the Challenge Rift features three different Wizard builds! Note: The Challenge Rift in the Asia region is still displaying 157, and we will update it to 158 once it changes. If you are curious how Challenge Rift builds are chosen each week, you can view this official blog post!
   

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Patch 2.6.9 Changes

Patch 2.6.9 added two new class sets to the game! Gears of the Dreadlands is a new Demon Hunter set with a focus on Strafe and Primary Skills, and Masquerade of the Burning Carnival is a new Necromancer set with a focus on Simulacrum and Bone Spear!    

Originally Posted by Blizzard Entertainment (Official Post)

Patch Notes

Below you will find the final patch notes for the most recent update for Diablo III, Patch 2.6.9. Changes specifically from the last version of the PTR have been highlighted in RED.  

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  PATCH 2.6.9

Items

Demon Hunter

• New Demon Hunter Set: Gears of Dreadlands 
  • 2-Piece Bonus
    • Gain 4 seconds of Momentum when attacking with a Primary skill, at a maximum of 20 seconds. Your Primary skills deal 10% increased damage per second of Momentum.​ 
  • 4-Piece Bonus
    • Casting Strafe against enemies will automatically shoot your last used primary skill, and also give 60% damage reduction while strafing and for 5 seconds after. While Strafing, you gain 8% increased movement speed for each second of Momentum.
  • 6-Piece Bonus
    • Your primary skills deal 10000% more damage
• Leonine Bow of Hashir
  • Bolas have a 30% 100% chance on explosion to pull in all enemies within 24 yards, and also deal 100-150% increased damage.
• Emimei's Duffel
  • Bolas now explode instantly and deal 150-175% increased damage.
• The Ninth Cirri Satchel
  • Hungering Arrow has 20-25% is guaranteed to pierce and also deals 450-600% increased damage.
• Odyssey's End
  • Enemies snared by your Entangling Shots take 20-25% 100-150% increased damage from all sources.
• Hunter's Wrath
  • Your primary skills attack 30% faster and deal 45-60% 150-200% increased damage.
• Holy Point Shot
  • Impale throws 2 additional knives and deals 75-100% increased damage.

Necromancer Developer's Note:With the adjustments coming in for a few past Necromancer sets and abilities, we will continue to evaluate the performance of the new set this season and may make additional adjustments in future seasons if we believe they are necessary.

• New Necromancer Set: Masquerade of the Burning Carnival
  • 2-Piece Bonus
    • Your Simulacrums no longer take damage, gains all runes, and its cooldown is refreshed when you die.
  • 4-Piece Bonus
    • While you have a Simulacrum, damage is reduced by 50%. Damage you take is split with your Simulacrums as well.
  • 6-Piece Bonus
    • Your Bone Spear deals 10,000% increased damage. Simulacrums gain triple this bonus.
• Grasps of Essence
  • When an exploded corpse damages at least one enemy, Your Corpse Explosion deals 75-100% 150-200% increased damage for 6 seconds, stacking up to 5 times.
• Haunted Visions
  • Simulacrum now drains 5% 1% of your maximum life every second and lasts twice as long forever. They can now duplicate Grim Scythe instead of Skeletal Mage.
• Razeth's Volition
  • Skeletal Mage gains the effect of the Gift of Death and Singularity runes. You gain 35-60% damage reduction if your Essence is not full.
• Jesseth Arms
  • 2-Piece Set Bonus: While your skeletons are commanded to attack a target, you deal 400% increased damage.
• Grace of Inarius
  • 4-Piece Set Bonus: Bone Armor grants an additional 2% 3% damage reduction per enemy hit.
• Pestilence Master's Shroud
  • 6-Piece Set Bonus: Each corpse you consume grants you an Empowered Bone Spear charge that increases the damage of your next Bone Spear by 3300%. In addition, Corpse Lance and Corpse Explosion damage is increased by 1650% 3300%.

Crusader

• Shield of Fury
  • This effect may stack up to 20 10 times.

General

• Stone of Jordan
  • Added power: Each of your elemental's damage bonus is equal to your highest static elemental bonus to skill.
• Reaper's Wraps
  • Added a 2-second internal cooldown to the Health globe effect.
• Mantle of Channeling
  • Now works with the Necromancer's Siphon Blood.
• Convention of Elements
  • Added "non-static" to the wording of the legendary power's description. The functionality is unchanged

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Skill Changes

• Necromancer
  • Simulacrum
    • These will now warp to the Necromancer if they begin to move too far away from the player. This only works if the Necromancer is wearing the Masquerade of the Burning Carnival set or Haunted Visions.
    • Simulacrums cannot use Grim Scythe (with Haunted Visions) or Skeletal Mage unless the Necromancer had either of those abilities while the Simulacrums were created. 
  • Final Service
    • No longer consumes pets.
    • Final Service now activates before Simulacrum's Self Sacrifice.
  • Bone Prison
    • Simulacrums now benefit from this passive skill.
  • Serration
    • Simulacrums now benefit from this passive skill.
  • Corpse Explosion
    • Damage increased from 350% to 1050%.
• Witch Doctor
  • Spirit Barrage
    • The Spectres from the Phantasm rune no longer benefit from pet bonuses.

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Bug Fixes

• Necromancer
  • Fixed an issue where Skeletal Mages were not attacking certain creatures
• PTR Specific: 
  • Note: The following issues were only live on the PTR, but we’re including the fixes here for visibility to indicate intended functionality on live. 
  • Seasonal effects no longer deal area damage. 
  • Seasonal buff resets if player exits and reenters a rift. 
  • Seasonal theme should no longer work in Set Dungeons. 
  • Fixed Maltorius' Petrified Spike dealing additive bonus damage instead of multiplicative. 
  • Fixed seasonal buff that sometimes may drop off whenever the player enters an invulnerable state. 
  • Changed seasonal buff to base its damage on the amount of kills. (not really a bug, more of a change)

 

Commemorate 20 Years Of Diablo II With Carbot, MrLlamaSC, And New In-Game Wings!

Today is the 20th anniversary of Diablo II, and Blizzard has announced multiple ways to celebrate in an official blog post!

 

 New In-Game Wings For Diablo III

Diablo II Retrospective

New Lord Of Terror Bust

Baal Runz 101 - Carbot Studios

MrLlamaSC Speed Run Of Diablo II

 

Originally Posted by Blizzard Entertainment (Official Post)

 

Multiple Great Evils (not just one). Hardcore mode. Gem socketing. Fighting demons outside for the first time. Diablo II has a legacy, and it’s in the bloodstream of every game we’ve worked on at Blizzard since the year 2000.

 

It taught our artists, engineers and designers about mood and atmosphere, about randomness, and about what makes plate mail dress-up so persistently delightful. For DII’s 20th anniversary, we’re stoking the campfire and reflecting on a game that shaped how we make games.

 

In the process, we’ve dreamed up some cool stuff, and we hope you’ll check it out and celebrate with us.

• To start, watch Baal Runz 101, a video developed by animation sorcerer Carbot Studios that we think is among his funniest work yet—and maybe the truest depiction of battling the Lord of Destruction.
• Read our Diablo II retrospective, with comments from Blizzard employees who’ve grown up developing, playing, and hanging out in the world of Sanctuary.
• Follow speedrun record-setter MrLlamaSC on a day-long live speedrun through Diablo II beginning at 9 am PT today. He’ll be playing through the entire game up to and including the Pandemonium event and conquering the “Uber” bosses.
• Bear witness to the unspeakable evil that is this limited-edition Lord of Terror bust. It looms 9” wide by 7-1/8” deep by 10-1/2” tall–the perfect size to desecrate your computer desk. Diablo’s never looked more terrifying (or more enthusiastic).
• Log in to Diablo III any time after June 29 to unlock your own tendinous Prime Evil Wings and represent the legacy you forged on Arreat Summit. Baal—as we saw in him in Diablo II—did not have wings, but try to imagine what they would’ve looked like if he did, and if you could’ve fastened them to your hero’s shoulders.

 

We’re honored that you’re still enjoying one of our favorite games of all time this long after its release, and we’re grateful to spend a little time reminiscing with you.

Thank you,

 

The Diablo Team

Limited-Edition Lord of Terror Bust Now Available

To celebrate the 20th anniversary of Diablo II, Blizzard has released a limited-edition Lord of Terror Bust. It measures at 9" wide by 7-1/8" deep by 10-12" tall. You can find the bust on the official Blizzard gear store here!

 

Diablo II Continues To Inspire Blizzard 20 Years Later

To commemorate the 20th anniversary of Diablo II, Blizzard has released a retrospective with comments from Blizzard employees who've grown up developing, playing, and hanging out in the world of sanctuary!

 

Originally Posted by Blizzard Entertainment (Official Post)

 

"Oh, I'd fought sleep for days at a time... For when I dreamt, the memories would return. Memories of the Monastery, and the Evil which had claimed it! Dreams, memories... I couldn't tell the difference anymore." - Marius

 

Crafting a classic

 

When we set out to create Diablo® II over twenty years ago, the goals were seemingly simple: fix the biggest issues in Diablo® and expand upon the original game’s formula. And while its developers didn’t set out specifically to turn the action RPG genre on its head or influence game design for an entire generation after it, Diablo II ended up doing just that anyway.

 

The development team wanted Diablo II to be bigger, better, faster, and stronger than its predecessor. A story divided in distinct acts with massive, explorable outdoor zones replaced the claustrophobic Tristram cathedral. Five new character classes like the whirling Barbarian and pious Paladin (with two more added in the Lord of Destruction® expansion, the Assassin and the Druid) expanded far beyond the basic Warrior, Rogue and Sorcerer archetypes from the first game. These new classes, in addition to featuring greater gender and ethnical diversity, each feature 30 unique skills to choose from instead of the single shared spellbook from Diablo. Certain abilities like the spin-to-win Whirlwind, the Paladin’s beneficial auras, and the Necromancer’s summoned minions would become staples in many of our games after. Finally, more powerful items, with bigger stat variety than ever, allowed everyone to truly express themselves through their choices in character class, gear, stats, and skills.

 

Many of us here at Blizzard have fond memories of playing Diablo II. To us it represents childhood memories, friendships created, endless entertainment, and it inspired many of us to join the video game industry as we grew up. Read some of our favorite tales from the office.

 

Blizzard Employees on Diablo II

Rod Fergusson – Head of Franchise, Diablo

What Diablo II means to me is the connection I have with my brother.  He’s nine years older, so growing up I often felt like an only child, especially after he left home for university when I was eight. Over the years since, one of the ways that he and I have stayed connected was through video games.  After all, he was the first person to introduce them to me.

 

Flash forward to 2001 and we’re living 1400 miles apart – he’s in Winnipeg, Manitoba and I’m in Seattle, Washington. To stay connected, we’ve decided that every year I’m going to take a long weekend and fly to his place and play video games all day, every day for four days.  That year, the plan was Diablo II.

 

The day that I arrive, June 21, 2001 is the day that the Lord of Destruction expansion was released and so we stopped at the store on the way home from the airport to pick up two copies.  For the next four days straight, we did nothing but play Diablo II co-op.  After many hours, much caffeine and very little sleep, we actually finished the main game AND the expansion! 

 

That bonding experience was so meaningful to my brother and I that we still talk about it to this day.  In fact, when I told him about my taking the job as the Head of the Diablo franchise at Blizzard, he texted me the following – “The Diablo II expansion Lord of Destruction came out on June 21, 2001. On some level that feels like a long time ago but also feels like we just did it. One of my better brother memories.”

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Lance Kimberlin – Product Manager, Battle.net & Online Products

After the first time I heard (and jumped from) "Ah...Fresh meat!" I was in love with Diablo. I put Diablo II on hold at Babbage’s in 1999 and waited for what seemed like forever to finally receive my copy—Collector’s Edition #23097 of 70000. I still have the box, the disks, and the epic Diablo action figure. How many hours I spent in game? Uh . . . we’d rather not talk about it.

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Jesse McCree - Lead Game Designer, Diablo IV

I love Diablo II because it's super fun! It came out early in my career and was one of the games that helped me grow as a game designer by leading me to understand the importance of simple but well executed game loops and controls. More than anything, I love the tone and world of Diablo II. It's still an inspiration as a Lead Game Designer for Diablo IV!

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Lily Gardner – Associate Game Producer, Diablo IV

Putting what Diablo II means to me in concise words that don't amount to a novel may be somewhat difficult, but considering the impact it's had on both my love of games and my career within the games industry (especially here at Blizzard), it would be a shame not to try!

 

In my younger years, I certainly was no stranger to games. I grew up watching my dad play games and code on his PC, and eventually transitioned into playing games of my own—from a Sailor Moon puzzle game to The Sims, and more. However, my first introduction to Blizzard was through Diablo II and Lord of Destruction.

 

When I look back on the summer before I turned 12, I think of all the memories I made playing as an Assassin—this fierce, female whirlwind of strength and prowess—and exploring spider caverns, marveling at the level of blood and gore, and cursing my lack of foresight and forgetting to stock up on Town Portal scrolls. I also remember cackling endlessly about a certain secret level. . . .

 

Much of that fondness for all things dark and demonic, as well as engrossing myself in a game for weeks on end, hasn't faded, and I attribute much of that to Diablo II. Without my experiences in Sanctuary, I may not have ever had the desire to work at Blizzard, or in games, or my somewhat gothic sense of taste may not have ever developed.

 

So, thank you to Diablo II and all of the talented, incredible people who made it a reality!

 

Diabolical influence

Over the years, elements of Diablo II’s design would find their way into several other Blizzard games, whether because they solved a specific need for that game, or simply because they were just fun to bring over. Warcraft® III included random item drops selected from specific loot tables, and hero units who had experience levels and skill points to be distributed, allowing those heroes to be built to suit the player’s strategy.

 

Later in World of Warcraft®, Diablo II’s iconic skill tree system would influence the talent system from the original release all the way through the Cataclysm™ expansion. Diablo II’s influence is palpable in everything from the three different skill trees per character class to the point distribution system, which allowed players to customize their characters and rewarded them for investing points in certain skills by unlocking more powerful abilities.

 

Some of Diablo II’s most powerful enemies—Champions and Elites—terrorize the battlefield by challenging the heroes with an unpredictable array of randomized powers. The notion of adding random enemy power increases as a way to further challenge and reward players lives on today in World of Warcraft’s Mythic Keystone Dungeon affixes, Starcraft® II Co-op Commanders, and of course in Diablo® III.

 

The secret to immortality

 

Today, Diablo II remains popular, and the very dedicated players enjoying it in 2020 continue to find new ways to make it their own. While some prefer the dramatic changes that only the modding scene can provide, others simply choose to creatively engage in Diablo II with self-imposed restrictions. Some variants include:

 

Naked Fury:

No gear is allowed in a naked run. No one can pick up any items other than potions. Players agree to rely only on their class skills and teamwork to prevail. Each class brings unique utility that helps the group succeed where a single player would fail. Naked runs usually go up to the completion of the Pandemonium event and the conquering of the “Uber” bosses—all while wearing no items at all!

 

Ironman tournament:

Ironman is simple in concept. Eight players start new Hardcore characters. Everyone plays together until level 9 while only using items they find—no previously found gear allowed. At that point, the team goes back to town, goes hostile on each other, and then duels to the death. Last one standing is the winner.

 

Speedruns:

Different classes and modes (Hardcore or not) in addition to the randomly generated maps and items make Diablo II very exciting to speedrun. World records for fastest completions are broken frequently, as emergent strategies (and a little luck) keep firm records from going unchallenged for long.

 

The Holy Grail:

The goal of the Holy Grail quest is to single-handedly collect every set and unique item in the game (meaning you must see the item drop, no trading allowed!). Since this is mostly a single-player challenge, some players like to use spreadsheets or apps to keep track of already dropped items, while others use mods that add infinite stash capabilities to the game in order to keep every item in their impressive collections.

 

 

Evil lives on

 

As we look back on twenty years of Diablo II, we see how the lessons we learned from the game have shaped the last two decades at Blizzard, and we expect it to continue to shape how we make new games (especially Diablo games) in the future.

 

No matter where you were when it all started, or when you decided it was time to play Diablo II—we’re glad to be able to share these memories with you. Here’s to twenty more years in Sanctuary, where brave souls continue to fight to rid the world of Terror, Hatred, and Destruction—while traversing eerie, dark places, and collecting the shiniest loot. Cheers!

Free Pair Of Wings For Diablo II 20th Anniversary Event

Today marks the 20th anniversary of Diablo II, and Diablo III players will be able to celebrate with a new in game event! Players who log into Diablo III on PC and Console right now will be rewarded with a free pair of Prime Evil Wings, which you can see in the screenshots below.

 

 

 

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Diablo II Remastered Announcement Rumors Squashed

Community Manager PezRadar took to the Diablo Subreddit earlier this week to shut down rumors of a Diablo II remaster announcement. In his post, he also teased the upcoming Diablo II anniversary event in Diablo III.

 

Originally Posted by PezRadar (Official Post)

Hey all -

 

We don't usually comment on rumors, but before this hype train goes off the rails we wanted to clarify that there are no upcoming Diablo announcements in June. The minions of hell are hard at work getting ready for the start of the next Diablo III Season, bringing you the next Diablo IV quarterly update (very) soon™, and we have some fun activities planned around the upcoming 20th anniversary of Diablo II.

Season 21 Begins July 3, Patch 2.6.9 Releasing June 23!

UPDATE: Patch 2.6.9 is now live in all regions!

 

Blizzard have officially announced the start date of Season 21 to be July 3rd, and plan to release patch 2.6.9 on June 23rd! In addition to this, we got a look at the new Stupendous Contraption pet and Industrial Portrait frame rewards for players who complete their seasonal journey!

 

Originally Posted by Blizzard Entertainment (Official Post)

 

Season 21 will begin July 3, shortly after our next Diablo III patch. Read on to learn more about the brand-new Season buff, new class sets, and a handful of item and skill adjustments coming in Patch 2.6.9! We are expecting Patch 2.6.9 to be released on June 23.

 

 

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Table of Contents

• Season Theme
• Season Cosmetic Rewards
• Season Journey Rewards
• Seasonal Conquests
• Haedrig's Gifts
• Patch Notes
  • Items
  • Skills
  • Bug Fixes

 

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New Season Theme

Wait, Nephalem. Do you sense that? Though the air remains tainted with a demonic brimstone stench, the world around you crackles with chaotic elemental energy. You have been deemed worthy, and the primal forces of Sanctuary manifest to aid you in the fight against the swelling darkness. 

 

With you as the champion of the elements, the burning hells will face the Trials of Tempests!

• During Season 21, your character will occasionally (every 90 seconds) channel an elemental power which unleashes into the environment for a limited time:
  • Rain meteors from the skies around you.
  • Breathe lightning.
  • Summon a wall of flame.
  • Release twisters of pure energy.
  • Crush your foes under the weight of rolling snowballs.

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Seasonal Cosmetic Rewards

Beginning with Season 17, we began re-introducing previous Seasonal rewards to make them available to players who may have missed them the first time around. For Season 21, this means awards originally available from Season 9 are returning to the Season Journey.

 

 

However, we know it’s nice to have something new to aim for if you’ve participated in previous Seasons. We’re continuing to provide new End of Journey rewards as introduced in Season 17, with two new cosmetic rewards for those who complete the entirety of the Season journey. Prove your worth in the Trial of Tempests to earn the Stupendous Contraption pet and the Industrial Portrait Frame.

 

 

In addition to the Chest and Gloves slots of the exclusive Conqueror Set, you’ll be able to earn the Pandemonium portraits and the cute and craggly Rocky pet first introduced in Season 9.

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Season Journey Rewards

If you’ve been diligently slaying demons for the past few Seasons and reached Conqueror in the Season Journey each time, you’ve surely accrued a few extra stash tabs. You’ll earn one additional tab each Season by finishing the Conqueror tier, up to a maximum of five:

• Guardian of Sanctuary: Finish a level 70 Nephalem Rift on Torment XIII difficulty within 5 minutes.
• Gem of My Life: Level three Legendary Gems to level 55.
• All I Do is Win: Complete 2 Conquests this Season.
• Lose Yourself: Kill the Skeleton King at level 70 in under 30 seconds on Torment XIII difficulty.
• Money Ain’t a Thang: Slay Greed on Torment XIII difficulty. Treasure Goblins outside of Nephalem Rifts will sometimes open portals to Greed’s domain, The Vault.
• Take U There: Reach Greater Rift Level 60 Solo. Greater Rift keystones can be obtained from any Nephalem Rift guardian.
• Power Amplification: Use Kanai’s Cube to augment an Ancient Legendary item with a level 50+ gem.
• Cubic Reconfiguration: Use Kanai’s Cube to reforge a Legendary item.

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Seasonal Conquests

Want to prepare your Conquest plan for Season 21? Here are the challenges you’ll face!

 

For Curses!/Stars Align, pick any Cursed Chest event that requires killing monsters and defeat over 350 or more at level 70 on Torment X or higher. Also returning for Season 21 is Sprinter/Speed Racer, where you’re challenged to complete the entire Diablo III campaign from Act I to Act V at level 70 in under 1 hour! Next is Avarice/Avaritia, where all that glitters is gold—that is, if you can complete a 50 million gold streak outside of The Vault or its Inner Sanctum. We're also bringing Thrill/Superhuman, which requires completion of a Greater Rift level 45—solo and without any Set items equipped. And lastly we'll be bringing back Speed Demon/Need for Speed, meaning you'll need to beat a Torment X Nephalem Rift at level 70 in 2 minutes. Best of luck!

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Haedrig’s Gift

Finally, the Class Sets rewarded for completing certain chapters in the Season Journey courtesy of Haedrig’s Gift have rotated once more. We’ve listed the available Sets below. For those new to Seasons, here’s how it works:

 

Completing Chapters 2, 3, and 4 of the Season Journey will reward you with three of Haedrig’s Gifts. Each Gift contains a few pieces from one of your Class Sets. Players can only unlock one Class Set in this manner per Season across Hardcore and Non-Hardcore, so choose wisely!

 

The set you receive depends on the class of the character you’re playing when you open each Haedrig’s Gift. To collect a full Class Set, you’ll need to open all three on the same character.

Here are the sets granted by Haedrig’s Gift in Season 21:

• Barbarian - Might of the Earth
• Crusader - Thorns of the Invoker
• Demon Hunter - The Shadow's Mantle
• Monk - Monkey King's Garb
• Witch Doctor - Raiment of the Jade Harvester
• Wizard - Firebird's Finery
• Necromancer - Grace of Inarius

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Patch Notes

Below you will find the final patch notes for the most recent update for Diablo III, Patch 2.6.9. Changes specifically from the last version of the PTR have been highlighted in RED.

 

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PATCH 2.6.9

Items

Demon Hunter

• New Demon Hunter Set: Gears of Dreadlands 
  • 2-Piece Bonus
    • Gain 4 seconds of Momentum when attacking with a Primary skill, at a maximum of 20 seconds. Your Primary skills deal 10% increased damage per second of Momentum.​ 
  • 4-Piece Bonus
    • Casting Strafe against enemies will automatically shoot your last used primary skill, and also give 60% damage reduction while strafing and for 5 seconds after. While Strafing, you gain 8% increased movement speed for each second of Momentum.
  • 6-Piece Bonus
    • Your primary skills deal 10000% more damage
• Leonine Bow of Hashir
  • Bolas have a 30% 100% chance on explosion to pull in all enemies within 24 yards, and also deal 100-150% increased damage.
• Emimei's Duffel
  • Bolas now explode instantly and deal 150-175% increased damage.
• The Ninth Cirri Satchel
  • Hungering Arrow has 20-25% is guaranteed to pierce and also deals 450-600% increased damage.
• Odyssey's End
  • Enemies snared by your Entangling Shots take 20-25% 100-150% increased damage from all sources.
• Hunter's Wrath
  • Your primary skills attack 30% faster and deal 45-60% 150-200% increased damage.
• Holy Point Shot
  • Impale throws 2 additional knives and deals 75-100% increased damage.

Necromancer

Developer's Note:With the adjustments coming in for a few past Necromancer sets and abilities, we will continue to evaluate the performance of the new set this season and may make additional adjustments in future seasons if we believe they are necessary.

• New Necromancer Set: Masquerade of the Burning Carnival
  • 2-Piece Bonus
    • Your Simulacrums no longer take damage, gains all runes, and its cooldown is refreshed when you die.
  • 4-Piece Bonus
    • While you have a Simulacrum, damage is reduced by 50%. Damage you take is split with your Simulacrums as well.
  • 6-Piece Bonus
    • Your Bone Spear deals 10,000% increased damage. Simulacrums gain triple this bonus.
• Grasps of Essence
  • When an exploded corpse damages at least one enemy, Your Corpse Explosion deals 75-100% 150-200% increased damage for 6 seconds, stacking up to 5 times.
• Haunted Visions
  • Simulacrum now drains 5% 1% of your maximum life every second and lasts twice as long forever. They can now duplicate Grim Scythe instead of Skeletal Mage.
• Razeth's Volition
  • Skeletal Mage gains the effect of the Gift of Death and Singularity runes. You gain 35-60% damage reduction if your Essence is not full.
• Jesseth Arms
  • 2-Piece Set Bonus: While your skeletons are commanded to attack a target, you deal 400% increased damage.
• Grace of Inarius
  • 4-Piece Set Bonus: Bone Armor grants an additional 2% 3% damage reduction per enemy hit.
• Pestilence Master's Shroud
  • 6-Piece Set Bonus: Each corpse you consume grants you an Empowered Bone Spear charge that increases the damage of your next Bone Spear by 3300%. In addition, Corpse Lance and Corpse Explosion damage is increased by 1650% 3300%.

Crusader

• Shield of Fury
  • This effect may stack up to 20 10 times.

General

• Stone of Jordan
  • Added power: Each of your elemental's damage bonus is equal to your highest static elemental bonus to skill.
• Reaper's Wraps
  • Added a 2-second internal cooldown to the Health globe effect.
• Mantle of Channeling
  • Now works with the Necromancer's Siphon Blood.
• Convention of Elements

  • Added "non-static" to the wording of the legendary power's description. The functionality is unchanged

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Skill Changes

• Necromancer

  • Simulacrum

    • These will now warp to the Necromancer if they begin to move too far away from the player. This only works if the Necromancer is wearing the Masquerade of the Burning Carnival set or Haunted Visions.

    • Simulacrums cannot use Grim Scythe (with Haunted Visions) or Skeletal Mage unless the Necromancer had either of those abilities while the Simulacrums were created. 

  • Final Service

    • No longer consumes pets.

    • Final Service now activates before Simulacrum's Self Sacrifice.

  • Bone Prison
    • Simulacrums now benefit from this passive skill.
  • Serration
    • Simulacrums now benefit from this passive skill.
  • Corpse Explosion
    • Damage increased from 350% to 1050%.
• Witch Doctor
  • Spirit Barrage
    • The Spectres from the Phantasm rune no longer benefit from pet bonuses.

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Bug Fixes

• Necromancer
  • Fixed an issue where Skeletal Mages were not attacking certain creatures
• PTR Specific: 
  • Note: The following issues were only live on the PTR, but we’re including the fixes here for visibility to indicate intended functionality on live. 
  • Seasonal effects no longer deal area damage. 
  • Seasonal buff resets if player exits and reenters a rift. 
  • Seasonal theme should no longer work in Set Dungeons. 
  • Fixed Maltorius' Petrified Spike dealing additive bonus damage instead of multiplicative. 
  • Fixed seasonal buff that sometimes may drop off whenever the player enters an invulnerable state. 
  • Changed seasonal buff to base its damage on the amount of kills. (not really a bug, more of a change)

Blizzards Actions To Support Black Community, Colleagues, And Partners

Blizzard's president J. Allen Brack posted an official blog detailing how they plan to support diversity and fight racism through education, support, and changing the workplace to be more equitable.

 

Originally Posted by Blizzard Entertainment (Official Post)

 

Blizzard community,

 

Our world has a long history of racism. Humans create groups, and then create divisions between groups unlike themselves. Ironic how we need each other as social creatures, yet we developed the practice to ‘other’ humans who at first glance don’t look like what we see in the mirror.

 

I have made it a personal obligation to educate myself about trauma others endure, and to work to change those experiences for them. Many within Blizzard come from a place of strong purpose, with a will to do in order to help society.

 

Last year at BlizzCon, I made a commitment for Blizzard to do better. We pride ourselves on learning and growing, and doing something now that reflects our company and community values. I also said that our actions would matter more than our words—we have been publicly silent until now because action is the important part.

 

Let me be clear: Blizzard stands in solidarity with those fighting against racism, because racism is as dangerous as any pandemic for those affected. We stand with those fighting against social and institutional structures that promote inequality among people of color.

 

Last week, AB announced donations to the Equal Justice Initiative, the United Negro College Fund, and the Management Leaders of Tomorrow (MLT) to fight systemic racial inequality. At Blizzard, we are working on initiatives for our community and our workplace.

 

In our games: For many years, we’ve had teams working with A.I. and machine learning to reduce toxicity and hate speech, as well as to help improve the overall gaming experience. Since January 1 this year, we’ve banned over 30,000 accounts for these reasons, as well as issued more than three million total hours of player suspensions. These penalties have notably improved our game environments: over the last two years, we’ve seen a 43% reduction in poor behavior reports, and a 59% reduction in the re-offense rate. And while this is progress, we’ve identified other places where we can use this technology and have more work to continue to do toward this effort. 

 

In our relationships: We are also reviewing our partnerships to identify opportunities to support Black-owned and diverse businesses, and to amplify the voices of Black content creators and influencers.  

 

Juneteenth: Today at Blizzard, we are observing Juneteenth with the goal of encouraging employees to take the time to be educated. We hosted a virtual session with a leader in our home city of Irvine, California, so employees can learn more about implicit bias, implications for law and policy, and how they can get involved in local efforts to drive change. We have also provided a list of resources to help coworkers self-educate, and shared ways to get involved in advocacy.

 

Ongoing: We are stronger with more diverse views and experiences. We are committed to being a more equitable workplace, including how and where we recruit, our HR practices, and employee support. We will also put an ongoing employee education program into place. This program will include more training and education (with the materials purchased from Black and minority-owned businesses), and Blizzard-wide town halls with experts on allyship, advocacy, and racism.

 

All of this work will continue to make Blizzard better, and play some small part in a larger, positive shift.

 

To our Black community, colleagues, and partners, Blizzard stands with you.

 

Black lives matter, today and always.

 

- J. Allen Brack, president of Blizzard Entertainment